Banshee
by valen5
Summary: Captain Joe Russell leads his crew when they find themselves on the run after going back on a job, and while hiding from their hunters they come across an abandoned federation Starship. Joe decides to salvage the ship not knowing that doing so will put him and his crew in the middle of a fight between the remains of the UFP and a man trying to destroy it.


**BANSHEE**

 **BY**

 **KEITH PHEASANT**

 **Set in a firefly meets star trek scenario, the story relates the adventures of inter-galactic trader and haulier, Captain Joe Russell, and his inter-planetary crew, acting on the edge of legality, but always on the side of good. Though a chain of events they find themselves assisting Star Fleet Captain Rekha Kaur, under the watchful eye of Star Fleet Admiral T'Paar, as they fight a mysterious man who seems to want to destroy what's left of the federation.**

 **BANSHEE**

PROLOGUE

He had a headache, of all the things to be concerned about right now, especially now, it was how much his head ached, it seemed like a stupid thing to worry about. Captain Paul Evans had commanded his ship, the USS Louisburg, a New Orleans class starship, for almost five years but as he looked around the bridge he got a feeling that he would be the last captain the Louisburg would have. The red alert warning was flashing on various monitors and stations around the bridge, his crew were working frantically, shouting out updates on the ships status. The ship shook as two more torpedoes slammed into it. "Shields down to thirty-five per cent" shouted the Chief Tactical Officer. "Divert auxiliary power to the shields, we've got to get to that command ship" shouted the Captain. "Sir, the Iconians have flanked the Klingons, our lines are beginning collapse. Starfleet estimates that we've lost about forty per cent of our forces" said the lieutenant sitting at ops. "What about our Romulan friends, can't they help the Klingons?" said Captain Evans. "Negative sir, the Romulans are either engaged or have been destroyed or disabled" said the lieutenant. Damn Iconians thought the Captain, we should have left that Gateway alone, destroyed every one of them we could find. Picard knew they were bad news and destroyed the one he found, we should have done the same; now look where we are, on the verge of being wiped out that's where.

Captain Evans turned to his First Officer a Vulcan named T'paar and said, "That command ship is the key, we take that out and the Iconians will become disorganised, that'll give us the advantage, we can buy time for the evacuation fleet". "Captain that ship is heavily defended" said T'paar with what, the captain thought was a concerned look on her face "if we attack it on our own it would be tantamount to suicide". Just then the Chief Tactical Officer shouted, "Enemy fighters coming in." Captain Evans said, "Lock phasers and fire". The Louisburg's phasers came to life, deadly streaks of orange energy joined others from the battle fleet which seemed to light up the surrounding space in some sort of macabre light show. A full broadside from the Louisburg and the two fighters were obliterated instantly, the others ducked and weaved to make it harder for the Louisburg to get a lock on them. Back on the bridge the Chief Tactical Officer's hands were flying over his control console. "Damn, I've lost phaser lock, attempting to re-establish" he said. The fighter's anti-proton cannons came to life and spat out balls of red energy strafing the Louisburg. Back on the bridge more consoles exploded, the Ops Officer said "Sir, they're coming about." Captain Evans stood up and said, "I want them ships out of my sky". The tactical officer looked up at him and said, "Aye sir." The fighters raced back firing and, as they did so, the Louisburg's phasers found two more of them then a third, the last one tried to get out of the way just as the Louisburg fired, it grazed the fighter which sent it out of control but it had so much momentum it crashed into the port warp nacelle.

The ship shook violently, people were thrown about the bridge and consoles exploded. "Report!" yelled the Captain. The Ops Officer said, "That last fighter has crashed into our port nacelle, we're venting drive plasma, and we have ruptured plasma conduits on decks four, six and ten." Just then Captain Evans communications console on his chair beeped, it was his Chief Engineer. "Engineering to bridge, that hit has done some major damage, we've got a cascade failure in the anti-matter containment system, you're looking at four minutes until a warp core breach, there's nothing I can do." "All hands man the escape pods, abandon ship, I repeat all hands abandon ship" shouted the Captain. The crew jumped up from their stations and made their way to the escape pods. Captain Evans and his First Officer, in a centuries old tradition, oversaw the evacuation of everybody into the escape pods. When the last one was ready T'parr said "That's it, everyone is away, we should go now Captain." Just as T'paar was about to get on the escape pod she paused and turned to face Captain Evans, something inside her told her that he was not going to leave. "T'paar, I need you to do me a favour, when you get back to Starfleet find my wife and daughter, tell them what happened here and that I'm sorry." "Captain, I must..." said T'paar. But the Captain cut her off and said "That command ship is the key. I know it. If that gets taken out we just may have a chance, I'm sure of it, now get going, that's an order". He practically shoved T'paar into the escape pod and pressed the launch button and, when he heard the escape pod launch, he made his way back to the bridge.

The bridge was starting to fill with smoke from the burning consoles, he sat in his chair and punched in an override code that allowed him to take control of the ship. As he did so he said "Computer, how long until warp core breach?" The computer said, "Warp core breach in one minute." "Status of weapons?" said the Captain. "Photon torpedoes are off-line; phaser banks are down to thirty- three per cent" said the computer. "Divert all remaining power into the engines" said the Captain. When the computer confirmed that all remaining power had been put into the engines Captain Evans entered a command using the small console on his chair and the Louisburg turned and headed for the command ship as fast as its damaged engines could take it. As Louisburg approached the Iconian command ship its escorts opened fire; anti-proton beams cut through space seeking out their target, some found the Louisburg impacting its weakening shields. On the bridge the smoke was getting worse, Captain Evans was coughing hard and it was getting difficult to see. "Danger, shields collapsing" said the computer. Then a torpedo hit the Louisburg and the ship made a sound like a muted roar as if it was in pain, but it kept charging forward. It broke through the blockade of escort ships, which meant there was only one enemy ship left. Captain Evans saw on the view screen, that the command ship was directly ahead and that it was turning, trying to get out of the Louisburg's way, but it was just too big to move quickly. "Ten seconds to warp core breach" said the computer. Just then the Iconian command ship opened up with its point defence weapons. The Captain watched bright streaks of energy reached out for his ship. "Oh no you don't you son of a bitch, you're coming with me" said Captain Evans defiantly. The Iconian command ship was huge, bigger than anything he had seen before but was just too slow. The Louisburg slammed into its side a second before its warp core exploded. Commander T'paar watched as the Louisburg exploded, she closed her eyes and said a short, silent prayer for her Captain. She would honour her Captain's request and find his wife and daughter and tell them what had happened here. The Iconian command ship, however, was not destroyed as Captain Evans had hoped, only crippled, and it was soon repaired; it would go on to play an important part in the battle of Sector 001. Captain Evans's heroic actions were just one of many that happened that fateful day, but only a small handful of participants would be left to remember them.

CHAPTER ONE

Joe woke up with a start. He sat up and looked around but didn't recognise where he was for the first few seconds - then things started to come back to him. He looked at the woman lying next to him in bed, she was still asleep, hardly breathing it seemed, but he could see that she was. Then more memories of last night came back to him: he had gone to his favourite bar and his favourite bar maid Satin had been on duty. As he had been going to that bar for quite a while, he had gotten to know her well, even though he'd admit that he didn't know if Satin was her real name or one she just used. It didn't really matter though, Satin seemed to suit her. They had been talking for a few minutes when he noticed a trophy with her name on it sitting on a shelf behind her. When he asked what it was for she told him that she had won it in a drinking competition. Just drinking Aldebaran fire whiskey, she had beat all challengers. Joe couldn't help himself and before he knew it he and Satin were locked in a fire whiskey challenge. He remembered the taste of the whiskey as he downed shot after shot, and it really burned. He couldn't remember who won, but that didn't seem to matter because he then saw flashes of himself and Satin in bed together. Getting out of bed, he walked over to a nearby mirror and took a good look at himself. The man looking back at him was tall and lean yet robust, his body had a few small scars that were the result of him trying to stay one step ahead of trouble. The Doc had said that he could get rid of them easily, but he declined saying that they were a reminder to never take things at face value. He rubbed his hand through a mane of brown hair and saw that his eyes were a little blood shot, and he would need a shave when he got back. Satin said that his best feature was his blue eyes despite everything they had seen. He walked over to a window, breathed in a deep lung full of fresh air and looked out at the street below. It took a minute for him to get his bearings, then he knew that he was in Old Town, one of the oldest parts of Braslota and, by the looks of things, about three floors up. If he was honest Old Town was looking a little run down these days. He saw a clock out of the corner of his eye sitting on top of a chest of draws, showing that the time was a little after eight thirty in the morning. He did briefly think about going back to bed - after all, who wouldn't want to get into bed with a woman as hot as Satin? But he was up now and he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep. Besides, he had things to do, so he started to get dressed. As he did so Satin stirred and opened her eyes. "Were you planning to leave without saying goodbye?" she said. "You looked so beautiful sleeping that I didn't want to wake you" said Joe. "Smooth talker, so when are you coming back?" asked Satin. "I don't know, maybe in a couple of weeks" Joe replied. "So glamorous, the life of a cargo ship Captain" said Satin. " I don't know about glamorous, more mundane I'd say, though it can get a touch exciting when an Orion raider shows up looking for something he can take" said Joe as he put his boots on and stood up. He looked at Satin and was just about to ask her who had won when she sat up, knelt on the bed, took his face in her hands, and said "Well, you make sure those Orions don't get you because I want a rematch" she then gave him a passionate kiss goodbye.

Outside, the air filled his lungs. It was a cold crisp feeling that, combined with the effects of the alcohol he had last night, made him feel a bit light headed. He knew from past experience that the cold air meant that a storm was not far away so he started to walk back to his ship. When he got their he heard someone say, "Morning sir, did you enjoy your card game?" It was Aris speaking as she walked down the rear loading ramp getting ready to load up the last of the supplies that had just been delivered. Aris had the typical Romulan black hair, but she had decided to grow her hair long, but it got in the way when she was working so, for now, she had tied it into a ponytail which showed that she had none of the usual Romulan forehead features, but gave prominence to her chocolate brown eyes that softened with humour. "Well, not exactly" said Joe scratching his head. "Oh no, you didn't lose the ship, did you?" said Aris with some alarm. "What - no, I didn't lose the ship" Joe retorted. "No, he didn't lose the ship, in fact he didn't lose anything except a few dozen brain cells". Aris and Joe looked around and saw Chel, the ships engineer, standing at the top of the ramp. Chel was a Tellarite but, unlike most Tellarites, he was pretty easy going and even tempered. He had met Joe and Aris when they had walked into the scrap yard he was working at to get some parts for their ship. When they had come to him to pay for what they had Chel looked at the collection of parts and said, "Your ship must be in really bad shape if you need all these parts." "Our engineer says that this what we need" said Joe. "You could almost build yourself a complete engine with what you have here, what's wrong with your ship?" asked Chel. Joe explained to Chel what had gone wrong and, after asking a few questions, Chel told them to wait right where they were as he dashed off outside. A minute later he came back with what looked like a small lump of metal. He held it out to them saying "You don't need any of that stuff, all you need is this, plus it only costs half as much". Joe and Aris looked at the mysterious lump of metal, then at each other - the look on their faces said it all. It said that this Tellarite had been in this scrap yard for far too long! Seeing the look on their faces Chel said "Look, I'll prove it. I'll install it myself, and if it works you just pay for it" said Chel. "You're telling me this can fix my ship?" said Joe questionly. Chel nodded his head. Joe was intrigued to see if would work. Taking Chel at his word, Chel, Aris and himself went back to their ship. As he left the yard, Chel shouted "I'm just going to get some lunch". But there was no reply.

"Hey Cap... you got the parts?" It was Lucius Belmont, Joe's old engineer whom everybody called Luke. He was the most laid back of them all, having classic surfer guy looks, blonde hair, blue eyes, a chiselled jaw, and a relaxed attitude. He seemed to draw the attention of women wherever they went, much to Joe's annoyance, as he would prefer not to draw too much attention to themselves. And there had been more than one occasion where he caught Luke _in flagrante delicto_ with a lady when he should have been servicing the engine. But he had kept him on because the guy who had recommended him to Joe had raved about how good he was, plus he did need an engineer in his crew. "No, I got this instead" said Joe. Chel held out the lump of metal for Luke to look at. "What's that?" asked Luke with a doubtful look on his face. "This is going to solve all your problems" replied Chel. He then pushed past Luke and headed for the engine room. When he got their he had a quick look around, walked over to a panel on the wall, took it off and reached in behind it, placing the lump of metal inside. Then he walked over to a console and started to tap some buttons. "Now, all I need to do is to reroute that and...". The warp core came to life and everybody looked at it as power flowed through out the ship. "I said it would work didn't I. Your intermix ratios look OK, you should have full power in a few minutes" said Chel. Luke looked bemused as he said, "What did you do?" Joe replied "Well, he fixed it. But how did you do that?" asked Joe looking at Chel. "Well, I've always had an interest in engines and, when you take them apart for a living, you get to know them. Though I must admit this is the first time I've worked on an engine that's not knackered and worn out" said Chel. "Would you like to work on an engine that's not knackered and worn out?" asked Joe. Chel looked at Joe realising what he just said, but he had to ask to be sure. "You offering me a job?" asked Chel. "I believe so" said Joe. "For how long?" said Chel. "For as long as you want, for as long as you can keep her flying" Joe replied. Chel's eyes lit up and he shook Joe's hand. "OK, but first I have to tell my boss. But, err Boss - don't go without me" said Chel. Then Luke turned to Joe and said "Hey Cap'n, why do you need two engineers?" "I really don't!" said Joe.

"Me and the Doc ran into Hoyt and Dillon last night, they told us that the card game had been called off, and said it was a shame because they were looking forward to cleaning you out Cap" said Chel. "So, where did you go then? Oh I know, you went to that bar with that bimbo didn't you?" said Aris. "She's not a bimbo. She's a bright, caring, funny woman" said Joe. Aris gave him a suspicious look. "Don't look at me like that!" said Joe. Walking up the ramp Joe said "Look, can we stop speculating about my private life, haven't we got work waiting for us on Mira!". Aris and Chel looked at each other and smiled. "I believe so. We've got the supplies we were waiting on and everyone is aboard" said Aris. "Good, then there's no point in us hanging around any longer" Joe replied. He walked over to an intercom on the wall, pressed a button and said "Tex, we're all present and accounted for, take us out of here". "You got it Cap'n" came the reply. As the loading ramp began to close and the thrusters powered up, Chel said "I'd better see if Jewel is ready for the trip" and he dashed off to the engine room. The Jewel he was referring to was the ship; she was called the Jewel of Nacia. Joe had won her in a game of Tongo against a Ferengi who was desperately trying to end his losing streak. She was a Rigelian freighter that looked like she had led a hard life, but Joe thought she had soul of her own. Over the years he had some modifications done: he had the maximum warp speed increased from warp four to six, and he had it outfitted with landing capabilities. But having them done had cost him an arm and a leg although he knew that they would pay for themselves many times over. What he wanted to do was to arm her, but torpedoes and phasers were expensive - far too much for him right now, but the Jewel was a good ship with a good crew, so for the time being he was content.

As Joe walked onto the bridge he saw his pilot, Tex - or to give him his full name Thex ch'Ramai. He was an Andorian, and one of the finest pilots that he had hired, mainly because he didn't have the same sense of superiority that he had come across in other Andorians. In fact, Tex belied a remarkable intelligence and a keen sense of humour. "Hey, how was your card game? We're not running away from anybody looking to collect, are we?" said Tex more jokingly. "Of course not, I didn't go to the card game" said Joe. "Oh, where did you go then?" asked Tex. Just as Joe was about to tell him, Aris interrupted and said, "He went and saw that bimbo at paradise bar". "SHE'S NOT A BIMBO!" said Joe rather raising his voice. "Ahh, you went and got your own slice of paradise ehh?" said Tex chuckling. "Oh, like you've never been to that bar" said Joe. "I have not. I've heard about it, but why would I, I'm a married man" said Tex. "That's right, my man would never be tempted by such rubbish" said Aris as she put her arms around him. Joe rolled his eyes and shook his head and, as Aris kissed Tex, he couldn't help remembering when he first met Aris and see how different she was now from back then.

Arrakis Two was a planet that was pretty much the same as all the others, with all different kinds of races living there. For the most part they all got along well. Joe grew up on a farm with his Mum and Dad and, because the ground was good and fertile, they could grow all kinds of products to sell at market. There was no doubt that Joe had a good life, but he yearned to see more and wanted to travel - after all, there had to be more than just the farm and the nearby town. So, one day he decided to do just that, he packed a bag filled it with everything he thought he'd need, took what thought would be enough money, told his folks he'd be back in a few months and set off.

Joe was about two weeks through his adventure when he came across the ruins of Hinge City. He had heard about this place during his travels, and had learnt that it had once been a prominent and affluent place. But a disease had swept through the city, killing tens of thousands, and drove the rest away. The disease had long gone, and the only people who lived there now were down and outs, or those that decided to stay on, or those that had nowhere else to go. He had wanted to avoid Hinge City, but his destination was the other side and going around it would take too much time. So, there was only really one choice, but Joe was pretty sure he could handle any trouble that came his way because, even though he had been brought up on a farm, there was always the threat from those trying steal land or animals. His father, having been part of local law enforcement before he left to set up his farm, had taught him how to fight, to defend the farm and himself. Joe knew that not everybody he would meet would be friendly, and he had packed accordingly: a compact phaser and, his favourite weapon, a retractable sword that, when fully extended, resembled an ancient Japanese Katana sword. As he walked through the empty streets, Joe could see that Hinge City had once been a wonderful place, and those that had lived there had been very well off. But now it was run down and its once beautiful buildings were decaying as nature was slowly taking the land back. He didn't know how long Hinge City had been like this, but if he had to guess he'd say about ten -maybe twenty, years. As Joe walked through the city he could feel people looking at him, he couldn't see them but he knew they were there, watching, wondering who this strange person is that's come into their city, their home. But all thoughts of being watched were put aside when his stomach started to rumble. Ahh, lunch time he thought, but where could he go where he wouldn't be attacked for his food? Joe walked on a bit more until he came upon what used to be a warehouse. That'll be alright, he thought, I should be able to see and hear anybody who tries to sneak up on me. Joe found a room, right at the back of the building, that was just what he was looking for. He was just about to settle down for lunch when he heard a scream that sounded close by. He went to see what was going on and saw five guys dragging a teenage girl into to the building. "AAAHHH NOOO!, please, let go of me" she screamed. One guy, who looked to be the leader, said "We might let you go, after we've taken what we want". "No please" pleaded the girl. "Keep screaming, nobody can hear you, and even if they could they won't care" said the leader. As if to prove it he screamed at the top of his voice "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The sound echoed off the walls of the empty building for a few seconds, and he looked around "See, it's just like I said, nobody cares" said the leader. As he walked towards the girl she kicked out, catching the guy in the stomach; he grunted in pain and doubled over, but only a few seconds. He stood up again, his face contorted in anger. "BITCH!" he yelled, and he gave her a mighty backhanded slap knocking the girl half unconscious. Grabbing the girl by the hair and said, "Just for that I'm going to take my time with you". He then got hold of her shirt and ripped it open exposing her. The girl screamed a dreadful scream. "Put her over that table and hold her down tight" said the leader. "No please" pleaded the girl. The leaded took no notice of her and pulled down her trousers. Joe didn't need to be told what was about to happen, he didn't even care why it was happening - all he knew was that it had to end now!

As he raced around the corner, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phaser; he aimed it at the leader and fired. The beam of energy hit the leader in the back and he fell flat on his face. The other four guys, seeing their leader unconscious on the ground, turned to see what had happened. For a split second there were confused looks on their faces as if they weren't too sure what to do - but one made up his mind. He picked up a nearby metal bar and charged Joe. Joe aimed his phaser at him and fired, but nothing happened apart from it fizzing and crackling. Damn, that's not good, he thought! The attacker raised his metal bar up ready to bring it down on top of Joe's head, but Joe dropped his phaser and stepped to his side just as his attacker swung, resulting in him finding nothing but air. He swung the metal bar again, and again Joe ducked just in time. The attacker swung again, this time aiming from Joe's ribs, but Joe quickly jumped back out of the way. He could see that his attacker was getting frustrated and he knew that now was his time to strike. As the attacker raised the metal bar above his head once more and charged forward, Joe moved towards him and, as the metal bar came down, Joe caught hold of it and, using his assailant's momentum, threw him judo style over his shoulder. Before the attacker had a chance to get up, he followed up with a quick punch to the face, hoping that would be enough. But the attacker got back on his feet and looked even more angry. He screamed and started to throw wild punches at Joe, huge haymakers that, if they had connected, would have knocked him out of his boots. But Joe was able to dodge two of them and, when the third one came in, he made his move. As the punch came in Joe ducked under it and threw a right punch into the attacker's gut, then a left, followed by another right. Joe felt ribs break. He then landed an upper cut which sent the assailant staggering backwards. Taking full advantage Joe got in close to his attacker and head butted him. The attacker's nose broke and he was unable to see through the tears, not to mention being disorientated from the uppercut. There was no doubt he was in a bad way, so Joe ended it with a mule kick to the stomach; the attacker slammed up against a nearby wall and collapsed down unconscious. He would live, but it would be months before he'd be right again.

WHACK! There was sickening blow against the left side of Joes head and it sent him stumbling to the other side of the room. He managed to stay on his feet but, for a few seconds, he was seeing two of everything. He hadn't seen the attack coming so it must have come from behind him. Joe held his head as his vision came back to him. As it did so he saw a second assailant holding a large piece of wood. Joe felt something warm trickle down the side of his face - it was his blood. These guys are going to kill me if I don't end this he thought. The second attacker charged at Joe with the broken piece of wood and Joe reached under the left side of his jacket and pulled out his sword, pressing a button on the hilt as he did so. The blade came together so quickly the attacker only saw a brief glint from the shiny metal surface before Joe stepped to one side and swung his sword. He sliced through the piece of wood reducing it to a small wooden stump. The attacker then only had just enough time to see that his makeshift weapon wasn't there anymore before Joe stepped in behind him and, with the two of them standing back to back, he reached around the attacker's neck and threw him over his shoulder, which he then followed up with a quick punch to the back of the head. His attacker was out of it. The other two rapists, seeing that two of their friends had been taken out by one man - a stranger, ran off. Joe could have chased after them but he wanted to see how the girl was. He pressed the button on his sword hilt and, with the blade folded up, and he placed it back into the holder under his jacket. He found the girl on the floor backed into a corner. As Joe walked towards her the girl said "Noo". Joe stopped and said, "It's alright, I won't hurt you I promise". As Joe looked at her he saw that she had pointed ears. His first thought is that she was a Vulcan, but no Vulcan would react the way she did, so she had to be a Romulan. She had managed to get some of her torn clothes back on to preserve some dignity. "My name is Joe, what's yours?" asked Joe. "Aris" said the girl. "Aris, who were those guys, and why were they attacking you?" asked Joe. "They attacked me because they can, they are just one of the many rape gangs that are here in the city, usually they come out after dark but some come out in the day time, they got me when I went out to get some food" said Aris. She wiped away a tear from her eye and said, "I've heard of stories of people being held by them for days having all kinds of stuff done to them before being killed and dumped". Just then they heard movement behind them, they turned and saw the leader who Joe had shot coming around. So, it was set on stun, lucky him, Joe thought. Just as he was about to turn back to Aris he saw her walk past him towards the leader. "BASTARD!" yelled Aris. She kicked him in the groin which brought him round fast. He doubled up in pain and rolled onto his side with his hands covering his groin. Aris pushed him onto his back with her foot and aimed another kick at his groin, the guy screamed again but it made no difference. Aris kicked him again and again, swearing with every kick until she was so exhausted she couldn't kick anymore. Joe winced as he looked at the bloody mess that had been the guys pride and joy, then looked at Aris and said, "Are you ok?" Aris looked at him and said, "I am now; he won't be raping anybody again". Joe looked up thinking he saw somebody or something move. "I think we should get out of here, those guys might have been scared off but I have a feeling they'll bring their friends with them" said Joe. Aris, still trying to catch her breath nodded. "Ok, you go back to wherever your place is and I'll go this way and lead them off" said Joe. "Wait, you shouldn't go that way" said Aris. "But I have to get across the city, and this is the best way to go" said Joe. "No, this city is like a maze, if you don't know your way around you'll never make it across before night fall. Trust me, you don't want to be outside when it's dark, you should come back to my place instead it'll be safer". Joe took a moment to think and said, "Are you sure, I mean you don't mind?" "You saved my life, this is the least I can do" said Aris. "Well OK then, I'll get my stuff" said Joe.

"You've got a pretty good view from up here" said Joe, as he looked out of the window of Aris's apartment. "Thanks, after everybody left these buildings they were left to rot and decay. I've done my best with it but, without any power, there's only the basics. But it's home, for now anyway" Aris replied. "So how come the lower floors looked worse than these do?" asked Joe. "That's because almost everybody lives on the upper floors. Anybody who lives on the lower floors are easy pickings for the rape gangs when night falls, so nobody lives down there if they can help it" Aris replied. Joe, turned to face Aris, said "So, how did you come to end up in a place like this?" Aris looked at Joe, she still wasn't sure if she could trust this man she had only just met, but he just did save her life, and she had trusted him enough to invite him back to her place. "It was my mother, she believed in reunification, you know, trying to get Romulan and Vulcans back together again. She believed in it so much that she gave up a career in the Romulan military to try and help bring the Romulans and Vulcans back together. This was not long after she met my father, who was serving on board a Vulcan cruiser. But soon she found out that she was expecting me, and started talking about wanting to live together as a family. However, my father was reluctant, and she soon found out why - he had a wife back on Vulcan. He tried to explain that he was only following a Vulcan tradition, something about being allowed to have more than one wife or something like that, but she was having none of it. She left him and took a transport to the Sebe station on Rukbat Four, where I was born. It's a pretty well-known transport hub where a lot of ships stop to get supplies, pick up any passengers, that kind of thing, and where she was able to get a job. But after a few years, she had wanted to go to the Romulan colony on Alith Five, because she heard that Romulans and Vulcans were living together there, and where she thought that we might have a good life. Anyway, a few days before we were due to leave she went out to get some food for us, two guys stopped her and told her to hand over the food. She refused and they killed her, took everything she had. After I buried her, I stowed away on the first transport ship I found and ended up here, don't ask me when that was, over ten years now I think" said Aris as she handed Joe a glass that contained some blue liquid. He looked at it unsure of what it was. " Kali-fal, a Romulan drink my mother liked, I think I got the taste for it from her. I managed to get hold of a few bottles last year. This is my last one" said Aris. Joe took a sip and started to cough. "Pretty smooth" he said between coughs. Aris smiled and said, "So what's your story then?" Joe sat down on a nearby chair and said "I'm from Belmont, it's a farming town on the other side of the country. I helped my folks with all the regular farming jobs but I got a bored. I knew there was more out there, more to life than just working on the farm, so I packed my things, told my folks I'd be gone for a couple of months or so and took off" said Joe. "Seen anything good?" asked Aris. "In fact, I have, I've seen the metallic sea of Canopus, well they call it a sea but it's really a big lake. I've also seen the frozen plains at Ruggi, very cold there, and I've seen the moonrise at Zarbo Canyon" Joe replied. "And now you've seen the ruins of Hinge city" said Aris. "Yeah, the highlight of my travels" said Joe. "So, where are you heading for after here?" asked Aris. "I've heard there's a city out to the west of here, thought I'd go check it out" said Joe. "That's Kilou, it's not so much a city, more like a giant spaceport, everything there has one purpose, to accommodate transport ships and their passengers. They have bars, clubs, and casinos - they've even got a transporter pad so people can transport up to the ships that can't land, and they've built a town around it. It's all pretty impressive in a way, but it's way over crowded" said Aris. "How do you know that?" asked Joe. "The ship I stowed away on landed there. I stayed in Kilou for a while, but trying to stay one step ahead of the local security was tough. Then I heard about a city where nobody wanted to live, and I figured that would be better, so here I am, But I wouldn't mind doing what you're doing, just taking off and seeing what's out there" said Aris". "So, what's stopping you, there can't be much keeping you here?" said Joe looking around. "There isn't, what you see is what I've got. But the problem is that it's all here, and if I leave somebody else will take it. And even if that didn't matter, I'd probably die of starvation within a week" said Aris. Joe and Aris continued to talk into the night. Eventually Aris said that she was feeling tired and was going to bed and that Joe was welcome to sleep on the couch. Joe, full of Romulan ale, made himself comfortable and in no time, he was asleep.

At first, he thought it was an earthquake. His brain commanded his eyes to open and investigate, it was then he then saw what it was - Aris was shaking him. "COME ON JOE WAKE UP!" she shouted. Joe caught the smell of smoke, it went down his throat and made him cough. "What's going on?" he asked. "The buildings on fire; we've got to get out" said Aris. Adrenalin rushed through Joe's system and he was on his feet in an instant. He grabbed his bag and they went outside into the hallway. They could see the smoke coming from the floors below. People were starting to come out of their rooms all confused. Joe saw a woman come running up the stairs and, as she got close to him, he asked "What's going on?". "It's the rape gangs. They tried to take somebody, but some people stepped in and a fight broke out. Something must have got knocked over during the fight because the first three floors are on fire" said the woman who then ran off down the hallway into a room at the far end. Joe had a look down the emergency stairs and saw the glow of the fire and felt the heat it was making. "Well, we can't go that way, I guess we'll have to go up" said Joe. "Are you crazy there's no way out from up there" said Aris. "Maybe we can get across to another building, they seemed pretty close together" Joe replied. Aris looked about searching for another way - out only she couldn't find any. "I think we're damned if we do damned if we don't" said Joe as he held out his hand. Aris took it and they ran up the stairs as quickly as they could, stopping only to see if there were any another exits they could take. Finding none, they eventually they got to the roof and separated to look around to see if there was any way to get across to the building next door. "Did you find anything?" asked Joe as they met up. "Nothing" said Aris. "Damn, now we're trapped up here with no way across and we can't jump because it's too far" said Joe. "HEY ARE YOU ALRIGHT?". Both Joe and Aris turned around to see a man standing on the roof of the building next-door. "The building is on fire, is there anything over there that could help us get across?" The man had a look around and said, "There's an old ladder back here but I wouldn't trust it, it's rusty as hell". "It's better than nothing, just lay it across" said Aris. "What's in it for me?" said the guy. "Are you serious, we're going to die here" said Joe. "Hey, I don't know you, for all I know you could be the ones that started that fire in the first place" said the man. Joe said "OK, I'll give you three strips of Latinum"."Six" said the guy. "Alright, I'll give you six, just put that ladder across" said Joe. The guy smiled and got the ladder and placed it over the gap between the two buildings. He was right about it being rusty. Joe thought it might take Aris's weight, but he wasn't so sure about his. "Go on, you go first" said Joe. Aris inched her way across the ladder over the gap on her hands and knees to the building next door. She stepped onto the roof, turned, and shouted to Joe "COME ON!". Joe also crawled across on his hands and knees. The ladder creaked when he was half way across, and Joe stopped to listen, hoping that it would hold. After a few seconds Joe inched his way across the remaining distance. As soon as he put feet on the roof, the guy pointed a phaser at them and said, "That'll be six strips of Latinum". Joe looked at Aris who looked back at him. "Well, I guess a deal is a deal" said Joe. He reached into his bag to get out the pouch where he kept his Latinum. But instead of taking some out and giving it to the guy, he hit him with a lightning fast right hook – he was unconscious before he hit the ground. "I don't make deals with scum like you" Joe said to the unconscious guy. As Joe and Aris walked out onto the street they saw that the fire had drawn a crowd which made it easy to blend in and walk away unnoticed. "Well, that's my home gone. I'm going to have one hell of a job finding somewhere else to live" said Aris. "You could always come with me. I could do with a guide and you know Kilou just as well as anybody. I could use a heads-up on what to expect" said Joe. "Why not, it's not like I've got anything better to do" said Aris.

Kilou was bigger than Joe had expected; even Aris said that the place had grown since she had last been there. But first they had to walk through the streets that housed the people who worked in Kilou. The conditions that they lived in were only marginally better than the occupants of Hinge city. But, unlike Hinge city it was crowded, very crowded; there seemed to be people living in every bit of available space. Aris explained that most of these people would have come there looking for work but, because there were more workers than there were jobs, many ended up staying here because they couldn't afford to go anywhere else. As Joe and Aris walked through the streets, things got a bit busier, and there seemed to be more people about. The next thing Joe knew he was standing in a market, he could hear traders shouting, trying to get people to buy their goods. As he looked around he could see that just about everything was for sale, from food he had never heard of right through to clothes and food replicators. "Welcome to Kilou. As I said, it isn't really a city, it's just a spaceport that has all this around it". Aris stretched out her arms to show Joe what she meant. "So where do you want to go first?" asked Aris. "Well, I don't know about you but I feel like I could use a drink" said Joe. "I know just the place" Aris replied with a smile.

"Morns" said the sign above the door, and Joe could see that it was not your average bar. There was a Dabo wheel and a few Tongo tables where anybody could lose their wages. "Welcome to Morns, what will it, Aris?" said the Ferengi at the bar. "Hello Genk" said Aris. Genk moved from behind the bar and hugged Aris, who returned the hug, but not as tightly. "It's been a long time. We all thought you were dead, what happened to you?" said Genk. "I had some trouble and I needed to leave suddenly" said Aris. "That trouble wouldn't happen to be big, smell bad, and wear a security uniform?" queried Genk. Aris didn't say anything but she didn't need to as the look on her face told Genk that he was right. He looked past Aris at Joe and said "Say, who's your friend?" Aris turned to Joe and said "Genk this is Joe, Joe, Genk. Joe got me out of a spot of bother a few days ago" said Aris. "Well any friend of Aris is a friend of mine and, because you helped her out, this round is on me - so what can I get you?" said Genk as he moved back behind the bar. Joe and Aris sat down on the bar stools. "I'll have a Star Drifter please" said Aris. Joe thought for a moment and said, "What would you recommend?" Genk replied "Well, our Black Hole is proving to be popular". "I'll have one of those then please" said Joe. "Coming right up" Genk said as he busied behind the bar. As Genk was getting their drinks Joe turned to Aris and said, "If Genk runs this place, shouldn't it be his name above the door?" Aris replied "He couldn't change it even if he wanted to. Genk used to own this bar a while back, but he got into financial difficulties. Morns came along and made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Morn's is this franchised company that has bars all over the Quadrant. As I understand, it Morn used to run a bar on an old space station that he brought off a Ferengi. It became a popular place and he made loads of money from it. He then went into business with the same Ferengi whom he brought the bar from; they opened up some more bars, and the rest is history. These days, there seems to be a Morns almost everywhere you go" said Aris. Genk put their drinks down in front of them and he watched as Joe took a sip of his Black Hole. Joe's eyes went wide and, as he swallowed, he began to cough. Aris and Genk couldn't help but smile. "What the? And you say this is popular? What is in that?" asked Joe. "It's something that's popular with the workers here; it has all the goodness and nutriment of a home cooked meal, plus ten per cent alcohol. I just tweaked it a little" said Genk. Aris couldn't help but laugh. "You could have warned me" said Joe as he coughed some more. Smiling, Aris said "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. You see, when I first arrived here I got a job as a waitress in this bar, and I would serve these drinks to unsuspecting customers. Their reaction was almost as bad as yours! Black Holes are cheap enough to be bought by the poor and, because of what Genk has done, you needn't bother with eating as long as you've had one of them every day."

Genk said, "Speaking of which, would you like anything to eat, there is some good food choices on the menu today?" "No thanks'" said Joe. Aris shook her head. "Suite yourself, but if you change your mind you know where to find me" said Genk. As Genk left Joe turned to Aris and asked, "So you used to work here, right?" "Yes, but it wasn't that good. A lot of the customers would be lecherous, plus I had to sign a contract that was more in Genk's favour than mine. It included me having to give fifteen per cent of my tips to him, unpaid holidays, and lunch breaks; a standard Ferengi employment contract he called it. Don't get me wrong, it was good to be working, but it barely covered the basics" said Aris. Joe said "I heard Genk say something about having trouble with security, what did he mean? ". Aris took a sip of her drink, then said "I got sick once and couldn't work, and when you don't work you don't get any money, and no money means you don't eat. On the second day of me being sick I was real hungry and desperate and, even though I wasn't feeling good, I went out and stole some food. But I got caught by security. The guy said that if I was "nice" to him he would let me go, if you know what I mean. I refused, he got mad and said that people like me disappear in Kilou all the time and that I'd probably never even be missed. I thought that he was going to kill me so I hit him; I broke his jaw and knocked him out. Then I got out of there. The next day a friend of mine told me that there was a warrant out for my arrest. I knew that if they'd catch me they would do god knows what to me, and I would probably never leave prison. So, I took off and never looked back" said Aris. "Are you not afraid of being caught now?" Joe queried. "I've changed a lot since then; I doubt they'd recognize me now" said Aris. Joe went to take another sip of his drink, as he did so he thought he saw the words Belmont on the vid screen just behind the bar, but he couldn't hear what was being said. He put his drink down and said to the barman "Could you turn that up please?" and pointed up to the vid screen." _"…...is in the process of being raided. Now we know that they have hostages and that they're more than likely going to sell them as slaves, that's how they make most of their money. But they're also rampaging through the town taking whatever they can get their hands on. Local law enforcement is doing its best in trying to stop them, but they're having difficulty because they just don't have the manpower to take them head on. A call for help has been sent out but it could be hours, if not days, before anybody gets there"_ said the reporter on the vid. Joe got off his bar stool, his eyes never leaving the vid screen. "I've got to get home, I've got to see if my folks are OK" said Joe. Aris, who was not paying much attention, looked up at Joe, then to the vid screen and saw what was happening. She turned to Joe and was just about to speak when she saw him march past her and out the door. When he got outside Joe looked around for something he could use that would get him home. On the far side of the spaceport he could see a building that was being used to store various items and, sitting outside in the open, he saw a desert flyer, a personal transport vehicle that looks a little like a hover car and are pretty common around big cities. Aris caught up with him as he walked towards the storage building. Catching her breath, Aris said "What are you doing?" "I'm going to take that flyer over there and go home" Joe replied nodding towards the building. Aris pulled Joe's arm and said "Wait, those storage buildings have more security than you realise; besides, even if you could get in there unnoticed by security and take that flyer, it would take you days to get home". Joe looked at her and said "Then what do you suggest? My parents are in danger. I've got to get home". "I'm not saying you shouldn't go home, I'm saying there's a quicker way". Aris replied as she looked towards the main transport building. "We can use the transporter pad in there, but we'll have to wait when it's not so busy and security isn't as tight". "Are you saying we should break in there?" said Joe looking at the transporter building. "It's a lot quicker than a flyer. That transporter will get you home in seconds." Joe looked back at the building and then back at Aris "When do we do this then?". Aris looked at Joe and said, "Night time, it's not as busy then."

"Coffee, Jamaican blend, double strong, double sweet" said the transporter attendant. The food replicator lit up and, out of what seemed like thin air, a steaming mug of coffee appeared. The attendant took a sip, "Ahh, that hits the spot, just what I need" the attendant said as he walked over to his console, sat down, and took another sip of his coffee. His co-worker looked at him and said, "How can you drink that stuff, coffee is disgusting." "Hey, give me a break will you, it's one of the few vices that I have and I intend to enjoy it. Besides, it's better than that limp wristed spice tea that you like" the first attendant replied. The two-attendants continued their drinking for a few minutes until the coffee drinker said "So, how many do we have in tonight?" The second attendant looked at a nearby display and replied "Four." "Four people, that's all? It's going to be a long night tonight" said the first attendant. "Tell me about it, I'll be glad when we get rotated off the night shift. Nothing ever happens here, you know I wish something would happen even if it's only once. Hell, even a system's diagnostic would be better than nothing, what I wouldn't give for a little action right now" said the tea loving attendant. The other attendant looked at him and said "You want action? You should transfer to security, then you can go out on the street, pick up a couple of muggers and beat the crap out of them. Then you could harass a couple of freighter Captains, that would get the blood pumping" said the coffee loving attendant. "Thanks, I'll take that under advisement" said the other attendant with some sarcasm in his voice. The coffee loving attendant smiled and was just about to take another sip when he noticed a light flashing on his console. "That's the emergency exit door" he said. The other attendant said "Yeah, the sensor on that has been playing up, it was supposed to be fixed a few days ago but maintenance is dragging their heels. I'll go check it out". The other attendant took a few sips of his coffee and saw and the light stop flashing. Well, at least it's fixed for now, he thought. As he took another sip of his coffee he saw his colleague come back in, but he was walking with his hands up above his head. It took a few seconds for him to realise what was going on. He quickly reached for the intruder alert, but a phaser blast shot past the side of his head and hit the wall behind him in a shower of sparks. "You don't want to do that" said Aris. Alarms went off and Aris quickly rushed over to the attendant, pulled him out of his seat and said, "Get down on your stomach and face the wall". The attendant didn't have much of choice, so he complied. He the saw Aris fire her phaser at the main door panel. The bulkhead door fell from the ceiling and landed with a thud. The security guards, who had heard the phaser blast, came running around the corner to find the bulkhead door closed. They tried the panel on their side but the door wouldn't move. "That will hold them, but not for long, we should hurry" said Aris. The other attendant looked from Aris to Joe, then at the sword that was being pointed at him. "We don't want to hurt anyone, all we want to do is borrow your transporter for a few minutes. As I understand it you have to enter a code in order for us to use it, so we would really appreciate it if you could put that code in for us" said Joe. The attendant, fearing for his life, nodded his head, and walked over to his console and entered his code as Joe watched him. "Done" said the attendant. Joe looked at the console and saw a message saying that the system ready. "Thanks very much. Now if you'll just go and join your friend over there and lie down facing the wall" said Joe. The attendant didn't need telling twice and as he laid down the other attendant said in a mocking tone "Oh what I wouldn't give for a little action right now. You and your big mouth!" The next thing Joe saw was Aris at the console. "It shouldn't take long, there's a satellite in low orbit that helps target the transporter beam. There's something about this planet's atmosphere that means a normal site to site transport is out of the question, so the satellite acts as a relay. So, all I have to do is to get it to target Belmont and...done". Aris typed in a few more commands and said, "All we've got to do is step on the pad and it will automatically engage." Joe stepped on to the pad followed by Aris, who still had her phaser pointed at the attendants. The transporter engaged and they were gone. The attendants stood up and rushed over to the console but, by the time had gotten there, the transport had been complete.

Everything was white, that was all Joe could see, plus he could feel a strange tingling sensation. Then the whiteness faded and was replaced with the sight of a street and buildings that were familiar to him; but something wasn't right. Then he realised that there was no people about and, considering they had materialized on the edge of town, there should at least be some people around. "Are you ok?" asked Aris. Joe turned his head and saw Aris looking at him. "Are you alright?" Aris said a second time raising her voice a little. "Yeah, I'm OK" said Joe. Both of them looked around them for a few seconds, then Aris said, "Do you know how far your parent's place is from here?". Joe pointed and said, "It's about three miles this way." As they started off Joe said, "Where did you learn to operate a transporter anyway?" Aris replied "At Morns, we had a lot of guys that would come in after they'd finish work, get drunk and all I had to do was flash them my best smile. I learnt a lot". "Won't those guys be able to trace where we went?" queried Joe. "No, when the transport completed I told the computer to erase the logs and, even if they were able to reconstruct those logs, it would take them hours maybe days to do so. Like I said, I learnt a lot" Aris replied with a smile. As Joe and Aris made their way to Joe's farm, a group of Belmont law officers appeared in front of them. Joe recognized the man in charge. "Captain Buchannan!" Joe exclaimed. "Joe, it's good to see you son, where have you been?" asked the Captain. Joe replied "I've been travelling. I got itchy feet and wanted to see what was over the horizon". Captain Buchannan looked past Joe at Aris and said, "I see you made a new friend as well". Joe looked at Aris and said "Yeah, this is Aris, Aris this is Captain Don Buchannan. He run's the Belmont police". "Pleased to meet you" said Captain Buchannan. Aris nodded her head in acknowledgement. Captain Buchannan looked back at Joe and said "I'm glad I ran into you because I could use your help. There's some raiders tearing up the town about four streets over. We're on our way to stop them and we could sure use your help?". Joe looked back at Aris and said "You don't have to do this, but this is my town and I know these people. I've gotta help them". Aris replied, "You helped me when I needed it, so I'm with you." "Do you have any weapons at all?" asked Captain Buchannan. Joe reached into his jacket and pulled out his sword, and held up his phaser "We've got these" said Joe. Captain Buchannan looked at Aris and asked "How about you? Aris shook her head. Captain Buchannan then looked at them both and said "Good, but you'll be better off with this" as he handed Joe a phase pistol saying "Be careful with that. It may look old but it's filled with all of the latest Tech, so it packs quite a punch". Then, just as they were about to set off Joe asked, "Have you heard from my parents at all?" Captain Buchannan said, "Your Mum is safe, that I do know, your father told me so." "And what about my Father?" asked Joe. "When the Orion raiding parties landed, I asked for volunteers to help defend the town. Your father was the first to walk through my door. It was just then we got a report of raiders being seen heading towards the Town Hall, so I sent him along with three of my officers to check it out. We were going over there when we got called to deal with these raiders we're going to now". Captain Buchannan could see the concerned look on Joe's face and said "Look, your Dad's one of the toughest guys I know, he can handle himself."

There was no need to go and look for the raiders, Captain Buchannan, Joe, Aris, and the rest of the officers could hear where they were. All they had to do was follow the sound of weapon's fire, and the screaming of those being attacked. They approached with their weapons drawn and ready. Just as Captain Buchannan was just about to issue instructions, one of the raiders stepped out of a shop he was ransacking and into the street. From the corner of his eye he saw something move and turned to look. Without missing a beat Captain Buchannan raised his phaser rifle and fired. The raider fell down dead. But that had the effect of getting the attention of the other raiders and they came pouring out onto the street to see what had happened. Captain Buchannan only got time to shout, "TAKE COVER!", before a volley of weapon fire came their way. They exchanged fire for a few minutes, killing two more raiders. The remaining three decided that it would be best if they got out of there. So, they retreated, firing their weapons as they did so. Captain Buchannan and his officers, plus Joe and Aris, came out from behind their cover and walked over to the bodies of a dead raiders. "I've never seen an Orion before" said Aris. Captain Buchannan said "They sure are big ain't they, the males are on average taller and more muscular than your average humanoid. But these guys are just foot soldier's, the one we want can't be far away". Just then the Captain's communicator beeped. He spoke into it. "This is Buchannan, go." "Sir, I've got good news, we've taken out most of the raiding party but the rest of them have barricaded themselves inside the Town Hall with some hostages. We've set up transport inhibitors so they can't get back to their ship, and we've surrounded the Town Hall. They're not going anywhere sir". The Captain looked in the direction of the Town Hall, his face a mask of fear. "Oh hell" he said and started to run towards the Town Hall, quickly followed by Aris, Joe, and his officer's. "Negative, do not surround the them, pull back now!" yelled Captain Buchannan into his communicator as he ran towards the Town Hall. "Sir, I don't understand, you telling us to pull back?" queried the voice at the other end. "Yes. Do it now!" shouted the Captain. Just at that moment the Town Hall disappeared in a huge fireball. Captain Buchannan stopped and watched the fireball, his officers, Joe and Aris were at his side a second later. They felt the heat from the flames and then had to quickly take cover as debris came falling down. When it stopped they, all stood in the street looking at the ruin where the town hall used to stand. "What, why did they do that. Why kill themselves?" asked Joe urgently. Captain Buchannan, who still looking at what was left of the Town Hall, said "Because that's what they do. If things go wrong and there's no other way out, Orion's would rather kill themselves than rather be taken as prisoners. "Soon after, the people of Belmont began to clear up the town, but it was the clearing up of what was left of the Town Hall that was the hardest because they had to identify the bodies of the hostages and, in a town like Belmont, everybody knows everybody. And, sadly, it fell to Captain Buchannan to tell Joe that his Dad had been one of the hostages. Joe thought that identifying his father was hard, but telling his mother proved to be much harder. She just sat there staring into space. Joe expected her to cry, scream, say something, do something; but she didn't, all he could do was sit beside her and hold her hand. He wanted her to cry, to let it out but she didn't, she was numb with shock, and she sat like that for hours not doing anything.

The funeral for all those that were killed when the Town Hall was destroyed was held a few days later. It seemed like everybody lost somebody that day, or knew someone that had lost somebody, because the whole town was still - everywhere was closed. At the cemetery the Mayor, Brendon Smith, led a tribute to all those that has lost their lives, and vowed that the raiders would not break the town's spirit. He also declared that the ground where the Town Hall once stood would be turned into a memorial garden, dedicated to those that lost their lives. Back at the farm Joe watched his mother steadily become more withdrawn. She had initially welcomed Aris into the household, but even she had noticed that Joe's Mum was spending more and more time to herself. Joe was worried, he thought that he should say something but what could he say? So, he continued working on the farm until, one night, his Mum passed away in her sleep. The local Doctor was called, but he couldn't find a cause. The townsfolk said that she had died of a broken heart. Joe was past caring what they thought, all he knew was that, in less than a year, he had lost both his parents. All he had left now was the farm. But he didn't particularly want to be there, too many ghosts. So, he sold the farm, which got him enough to buy a long-range shuttle so that he could indulge his adventurous side. He asked Aris if she wanted to join him and she replied, "I don't think anybody else is going to make sure you stay safe". And in the years between then and now she had done just that. She was there when he won their present ship, the Jewel of Nacia, from the Ferengi with the bad luck and, even though there was a strong bond between them, they never crossed beyond that line.

 **CHAPTER TWO**

"Breaking atmo now Captain" said Tex. Joe replied "Set a course for Mira, warp three. I'm going to get some breakfast". "Warp three aye" said Tex. As Joe walked to the galley Aris said, "I don't like this, I don't understand why Wade and Wilbur insist on meeting us face to face, why can't they just contact us over the regular communication channels". "Because they're wanted men and the communications grid can be easily traced; besides, they're old fashioned businessmen, this is how they like to do business" said Joe. "I still don't like it, we should skip this job and look for another one" said Aris. "We can't, it's not like we've got jobs lined up. Besides, we need the money. Chel keeps telling me that the...the...the something needs sorting out" said Joe. "Something? You mean the central quantum resonance transducer" said Aris folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. "Yes that, and as I understand it isn't cheap, so we can't afford to turn down jobs just because we don't like somebody. Trust me, everything will work out fine". As Joe walked into to the galley he saw the ship's Doctor sitting at the table. "Morning Doc, how's things?" The Doc was one Doctor Cole Philips, he always seemed to have a smile on his face, which went well with his hazel eyes and dark brown hair that had a wisp of white on the side; this made people think he was older than he was. He had given up his regular job as a surgeon to help the people of Epsilon Antliae Three find a cure for a deadly pandemic that was sweeping across the planet. As a human it was found that he was immune to the illness which was affecting population. So, in between helping those that were sick, he was helping the physicians understand why he was immune. In the end a cure was found, but it had cost many lives and, on his way back home he had decided to take a detour and surprise his sister on Bellatrix Three. But he didn't have enough money, so he decided to trade his services for passage, and he just so happened to choose the Jewel of Nacia to take him there. But the Doctor never got off at Bellatrix, thanks to Joe, who managed to persuade him to stay on board. It wasn't long then before the Doctor became a part of their family. "Not much, Frank came in with a dislocated shoulder. He said he done it while he was working out. He'll be a bit tender for a few days. I've still yet to sort out the supplies we took on though" said Cole. "Well, you'll have plenty of time. We don't arrive on Mira for about ten hours" said Joe as he made himself some breakfast. "What we could do with more than anything is replicator, any replicator, that way we'd cut the cost of our supplies in half" said Cole. Joe responded "I know, but replicators are expensive, and we have more pressing needs. Besides, if we get a replicator everybody will have their food in their quarters and never be seen again. I like that in the evening we come here, sit at this table and eat together - gives a sense of family" said Joe. "Well, I can't argue with that. Do you know what kind of job Bill and Ben have for us?" said Cole. Joe looked at the Doc and said, "Who's Bill and Ben?". The Doc said, "Bill and Ben, the Flower Pot men - don't you know who they are?". Joe shook his head. "Bill and Ben is an old earth children's programme. They were made out of flower pots and lived in a garden; they'd have a minor adventure, a mishap occurs, then they'd go back into their pots to avoid getting caught. Hey that's a bit like Wade and Wilbur don't you think" said Cole. Joe chuckled at the comparison. "Do you have any idea what they have for us" asked Cole. "No, I have no idea what the job is, but they're willing to pay us twenty bars of Latinum for it" said Joe. "Twenty? Must be something big then, but it can't be any worse than the last job" said Cole. "What was wrong with that?" asked Joe a bit indignantly. "The noise for one, it carried right throughout the ship. I hardly slept, and the smell, oh god, the smell. If I get even the faintest whiff of that smell, even now I want to throw up. Transporting livestock was not your best idea" stated Cole. "It got us enough to pay for the supplies, didn't it? Besides we can't be that picky about what jobs come our way, not unless you want to eat". After breakfast Joe went to his quarters to have a shower. As he walked in he undressed, put his clothes on his bed, and padded into the shower. The warm water felt good and relaxing. He closed his eyes and tried to remember a bit more about last night, but try as he might, he couldn't remember anything. When he finished showering, he dried himself and walked to his desk at the other end of the room. On top of the desk was a computer which he turned on and sent a message to Wade and Wilbur to say that they were on their way.

A few hours later Tex pressed a button on his console and said, "We're coming up on Mira Cap". "I'll be right there" Joe replied. Tex cut power to the warp engines and the ship went to impulse speed. As the ship flew towards Mira, Tex couldn't help but feel something wrong. "Chel, you're not doing any tests, are you?" said Tex into the comms unit. "Tests, no why, is there something wrong?" queried Chel. "The control's feel a little sluggish" Tex replied. "It could be the auxiliary field capacitor is playing up. I'll take a look" said Chel. As Joe stepped on to the bridge he saw that the planet Mira was a lot closer than he'd like. "Err Tex, isn't that planet coming up a bit fast?" "Err yeah, afraid so Cap, I'm having a few technical issues" Tex replied. "Define technical issues?" Joe queried. Tex responded "As in - oh god oh god we're going to die". "You mean we're going to crash. I don't want to crash, if we crash it's your fault" Joe said firmly. "No no, it's OK, I've got it, I've got it. Come on baby, cooperate" Tex soothingly. The ship started to shake as it skipped on Mira's atmosphere. Just then Chel's voice came over the intercom. "Alright, I've re-polarised the capacitor, the helm should be coming back normal." "Yes, that's more like it. OK, we're coming in for landing" said Tex. Joe watched as Tex took Jewel through the atmosphere and he felt the deceleration thrusters slow the ship down. He then heard the noise of the landing gear as it came down and, as the ship settled on the ground Tex, cut all power to the engines. He then looked at Joe and said, "I am good - ain't I good?" "I don't know, I think I could have done without the about to crash part" said Joe. Just then Aris walked onto the bridge saying "Is everything ok? We got a bit shook up back there." Joe stood up and, as he walked off the bridge, said "Speak to your husband, he thought it was a good landing". As he walked to the main cargo bay he saw Frank just ahead of him. Frank was a Bjoran that stood just over six feet tall and had a big body fame that showed his love of working out. A thinning mop of light brown hair sat atop a big head that housed light brown eyes which, to Joe, seemed a bit too close together. Although Frank wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, when things got physical he was the kind of guy you wanted watching your back. "Are you ready to go?" asked Joe. "Yeah, I'm ready, but I'm not too happy about this meeting" Frank replied. "Why?" said Joe. "Well, in case you've forgotten, they did try to kill you - remember that lady assassin we found out that had been hired to kill you" said Frank knowingly. "Oh, I remember her" said Joe, equally knowingly. With a suspicious look on his face Frank said, "By the way, how did you persuade her not kill you?". "Ahh, a gentleman never tells" Joe replied. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" asked Aris as she walked down the corridor towards them. Joe and Frank looked at her, Joe said "No it's OK. I think we'll be fine. Besides, I want you here because Chel said that he's going overhaul a few systems, so I need somebody to oversee things". Joe turned to leave but he stopped, looked back at Aris, and said "Remember, if we ain't back by nightfall you take this ship and you come get us". "What, and risk my ship?" said Aris jokingly. "I'm serious, it gets cold out there" said Joe.

J ust in the entrance to the club that Wade and Wilbur owned, two burly doormen stood guard. Joe walked up to them and said, "Tell your bosses that Joe Russell is here". The two doormen looked at each other, then one of them disappeared inside. A minute later he came back out holding a metal box. "Your weapons please" said the doorman. Joe and Frank put their weapons in the box and, when the doorman was satisfied that they had handed over all their weapons, he closed the box and led them through the club and into a back office where the identical twins of Wade and Wilbur were waiting for them. "Ahh, we've been waiting, come in" said one twin. "Yes, please come in and sit down" said the other twin. As Joe and Frank sat down Joe nodded to one twin and said in greeting "Wilbur." Then he looked at the other and said "Wade". Wilbur said, "Actually he's Wilbur, I'm Wade." "No, your Wilbur, he's Wade" said Joe. Wilbur sat back in his chair and said, "How did you know?" "Wade's prettier" Joe replied smilingly. The twins looked at each other as if there was something different between them, then Joe said "So, what's this job you've got for us, it must be important for you to be paying twenty bars of latinum?" Wade sat back and said "It's nothing much. There was some property that was taken from us by the authorities, we would like it back." "Property?" said Joe questioningly. "A box, a metal box" said Wilbur. "What's in it?" asked Frank. "That's not important, what is important is that it's being taken to a storage facility in Meskloo City tomorrow, and you can only get to it while it's in transit. They can't use their own transport because the ground is too rough" said Wilbur. Then Wade said "They plan to use the Meskloo Express, it's the only mag lev train service between here and Meskloo, and that's the good news. The bad news is that there'll also be some armed guards on that train heading for somewhere not important; we believe them to be Betazoids". "So, they'll see us coming a mile away" said Joe. "We know you'll think of something" said Wilbur. Joe and Frank looked at each other unsure what to say or think. Then Wade sat forward and said, "You look a little stressed, why don't you have some Bolian tonic water, it's good for the nerves?" "No thanks', I still haven't forgotten that you tried to have me killed" said Joe. Wade replied soothingly "That was just a misunderstanding, an overreaction on our part." Joe looked at him not believing a word of it. He turned to Frank and said, "What do you think?" Frank replied "I like a challenge as much as anybody, but this I don't know. But I do know that, if we take this on, we'll have to be quick because we don't want to be caught with are hands in the cookie jar by some angry, armed Betazoids". Joe looked back to Wade and Wilbur and said "OK, we'll do it, but I want half up front, the rest when we deliver the box". Wade and Wilbur looked at each other then Wilbur said "Deal!" He waved over a bodyguard who picked up a case, put it down in front of Joe and Frank, then opened it up to reveal ten bars of latinum. Wade reached into his top pocket and handed Joe a piece of paper. "That's the number of the box, you'll find it on the side" said Wade. Joe closed the case, handed it to Frank and said, "We'll contact you once we've got it". As they collected their weapons from the doorman Frank said, "I sure hope you've got a good plan because this ain't going to be easy." Joe replied "I remember hearing that Betazoids have a problem in dealing with strong emotion - they can't sort it out. As that train is the only one that going to Meskloo, that means it'll be packed out with people; maybe we can use that to our advantage."

He didn't want a Tarkellian bat, but the seller was being persistent, and Joe was getting annoyed. If he didn't leave soon Joe could find himself in trouble before this job even started. Fortunately for the both of them the seller gave up and left to try his luck elsewhere. "Thank god he's gone. I was on the verge of doing something that wouldn't have been kind to that bat" he said to Aris. She looked at him and smiled saying "You could have bought one and made it the ship's mascot." Joe looked at Aris "Didn't we make Frank the ships mascot?" Aris smiled, looked at her watch and said, "Speaking of which, he should be just about ready." "Well then, we should get ready as well don't you think?" said Joe. As they both got up, Joe went through the plan again in his mind. He was sure everybody knew what to do, they had gone over the plan repeatedly until there were no mistakes. However, there was one thing that bothered him the most and that was the fact that they only had a window of about two or three minutes to find the box and take it. The first part of the plan called for a diversion. Joe and Aris had to make sure that, when they got on the train, they sat in the carriage behind the one that had the cargo in it Joe knew that the carriage in front was split in two, the front half was where the armed guards sat, while in the rear was the cargo, he just hoped that none of them would linger in that carriage and go through to the one in front of that. Then, at a given time when they were about half way through the trip, they would put their plan into action. Joe and Aris walked towards the rear of their carriage, Joe reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two round shaped objects and handed one to Aris. "OK, it's a five second delay" said Joe. Aris nodded and they both pressed a button on the round objects and gently rolled them back into the carriage. Both spheres came to rest on opposite sides of each other and began to emit smoke. At first nobody noticed the smoke but, as it began to fill the carriage, people began to cough and then wonder what was going on. Then they saw the smoke and began to panic. The people sitting at the front of the carriage heard that something was happening behind them, so they looked back at what was happening, saw the commotion and they too began to panic. While all this was going on Joe and Aris slipped back into the carriage and, thanks to an injection from the Doc, they were immune to the smoke's effects. But they faked a few coughs so as not to stand out. As the crowd of people surged towards the carriage in front, Joe smiled - things were going just as he planned. In seconds, all the people from their carriage surged forward into the one in front that had the Betazoid guards in it. They knew something was wrong and they turned their heads just in time to see a load of people come spilling in through the door coughing and wiping tears from their eyes. They didn't know what to make of it all, all they could sense was a lot of panicked emotions and, when they tried to ask what had happened, they couldn't make sense of what the people were saying because they were coughing so hard. Everything was going just how Joe wanted it to go; he knew that, in going forward, the crowd had to go through the cargo compartment of the carriage in front to get to the passenger compartment. All Joe and Aris had to do was make sure they were the last ones to leave their carriage and make sure there was no passengers loitering in the cargo compartment. As they got to the carriage compartment they had a quick look in to make sure it was clear. Aris set about looking for the box while Joe hurried forward and closed the door separating the passenger compartment from the cargo compartment. He got out his phaser and used it to seal the door closed. "I've got it" said Aris. She picked it out of the rack and put it on the floor. Joe went over to where she was, aimed his phaser at the roof and cut out a section of it. The roof section crashed to the floor and they both looked up through the hole and saw the shuttle from Joe's freighter above them with Tex at the controls. It flew forwards until they saw the rear ramp open and Frank look down at them. "This is goddamn crazy; why do I have to do this?" shouted Frank as he put on some plastic glasses to protect his eyes. "Because you're the only one that's big enough and heavy enough to keep that line stable at this speed" said Tex. Frank looked up at the heavy duty winch he was attached to and said, "We should have asked for at least forty bars for this caper." He then took a deep breath and leapt out into space; the winches braking system kept Frank from free falling onto the train and he landed on the roof just behind the hole that Joe had cut. He then jumped down into the carriage where Joe and Aris were waiting. "Nice of you to join us" Joe said with a smile as Frank took off his glasses. "It would have been a whole lot easier if we'd used Jewels transporter's" said Frank. "Can't, Jewels transporters are short range only and I'm pretty sure a great big freighter flying over a train would have been noticed" said Joe. Aris began to hook up the box to the winch and said "Besides, you would have missed all this fun." Frank climbed got on top of the box grabbed hold of the winch cable and said, "Next time we do a job for those two we ask for double". He then pressed a button attached to his belt and he and the box went back up through the hole and into the shuttle. Joe and Aris watched as the shuttle banked away and headed back to the Jewel. "Let's go" said Joe. He and Aris headed back down the train, through the still smoke-filled carriage into the carriage behind, found two unoccupied seats and sat down. The plan was not for them to go with the shuttle but stay with the train all the way to Meskloo because, when the authorities searched the train, one of the first things they would check is the passenger manifest, and if anybody was found to be missing they would become suspects. With the job done, and plenty of time in hand before they got to Meskloo, they started to work on their stories should they be questioned by the authorities. As the train pulled into Meskloo, Joe could see that the local police had already been notified. He had a funny feeling that they were going to be asked some questions. "Joe, look" said Aris nodding in the direction of what looked like a personnel carrier. Joe saw the armed guards from the train get into the carrier and drive away. Joe and Aris looked at each other, confusion on their faces, why weren't they turning train inside out looking for that box and why weren't they questioning any of the passengers? Whatever the reason it was one less thing to worry about.

As Joe and Aris made their way off the train and through the station a voice said "Excuse me, I'm officer Artemis Owen of the Meskloo police department. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" They both turned to see a police officer who looked about two weeks from retirement behind them. "No, don't mind at all" said Joe. "Thank you. Now, this might sound a bit strange, but did you by chance see anybody acting suspiciously?" asked the officer. "Suspiciously? No, but then again, I slept most of the way here" said Joe. The officer looked at Aris and said, "How about you, did you see anything?" Aris replied "No, I was asleep as well". Then the officer asked, "Can I ask what brings you to Meskloo?" Joe had anticipated this and said, "We're looking for work". "What kind of work?" asked the officer. "Anything, we've just got married and we've barely got a thing to our name" said Joe. "Your married?" said the officer. "That's right" said Joe. As the officer took notes, Joe saw Aris give him a what-the-hell look. Being a husband and wife wasn't one they had gone over. "Can I take your names please?" said the officer. "My name is Maxwell Tindal and this is my wife Kaleya" said Joe. "And how long have you been married?" asked the officer. "Two months" Joe replied. "I don't mean to seem rude or anything, but if you've hardly got any money, how did you pay for the tickets?" asked the officer. "My uncle and aunt bought the tickets - it was their wedding gift to us" said Joe. "And will you be staying with them while you're here?" the officer enquired. "No, I've got a friend here, Jason Tyrrell, I asked him if we could stay with him at his place while we look for work" said Joe. "Jason Tyrrell ehh? Didn't you know that Jason killed himself a week ago?" said the officer. "Oh, no I didn't" said Joe. "Yeah, a damn shame too, he was one of the good ones. But I guess working in the mine proved too much for him" the officer responded. "So, would his job be open then?" asked Joe. The officer looked at them with a glint of suspicion but, as he had nothing to hold them on, he stroked his chin and said "Well, that's all for now, I just hope them poor devils can hold out for the next shipment" said the officer. Joe said, "Hold out, what do you mean?" The officer looked at them and said "The train you were on got robbed on route here. Strange thing is that the only thing taken was a box containing medication to treat the miners." "Medication?" queried Joe. "Yeah, we've got a Riemite crystal mine here, but the problem is the dust from the mining is real nasty. If you breath it in, prolonged exposure means it affects the joints and makes them ache and seize up. And when that happens you can hardly move, let alone work. But the real problem is that the dust gets into the atmosphere so everyone who lives here has got the symptoms. Hell, I've got them and I've never set foot in a mine. We only get one box of meds every month to help manage the symptoms, but because this one got stolen a lot of people are going to be in a bad way by the time we get the next one" said the officer. Joe realised then that Wade and Wilbur had lied to them, but he kept up the pretence to the officer asking, "How did the train get robbed, didn't I see a whole load of armed guards on that train?" said Joe. "That you did, they're a private security company that was protecting some hi-tech equipment that was being transported on the train. They just took whatever they were guarding, got into their truck and drove off without so much as a by your leave. Well, anyway thanks for your time. If you think of anything else you know where to find me" said the officer as he shook hands with Joe and Aris and then went to question someone else. As Joe and Aris left the station Aris said, "Wade and Wilbur lied to us!" "I know" said Joe. "So, what are we going to do?" queried Aris. "We're going to give it back. Come on, let's get back to the shuttle" said Joe hurrying away.

"What do you mean we're going to give it back?" said a confused Frank. "That box don't belong to Wade and Wilbur, it has a whole lot of medication for the people at Meskloo, and if they don't get it they're going to suffer" said Aris. "So, the plan is for me and Aris is to take it back into town on the skiff and leave somewhere it can be found then return the latinum to Wade and Wilbur saying we changed our minds" said Joe. "I don't think my employers would like that". Everybody turned to see who had said that and they saw a big, solid looking guy who had half his face covered in a single tattoo. "And you are?" queried Joe. "My name isn't important, but if you must have one you can call me Ephraim. Their names are unimportant" said Ephraim gesturing to the three heavies he had brought with him. "What were you going to do with the box?" asked Ephraim. "This, err...nothing" Joe replied hesitatingly. Ephraim walked over to the box, looked at it and said, "Maybe you try and take the box as well as my employer's money" said Ephraim. Then almost instantly Ephraim and his heavies produced weapons that they had concealed inside their jackets. Joe, Aris, Tex, Cole and Frank held their hands in the air. Joe said, "Oddly enough, no." "It matters not, we'll take you back with us and then you can explain yourself. Bring them" Ephraim commanded. One of the heavies walked towards Aris and said "This one would fetch a good price at the slave market. Maybe we could have some fun with her before we sell her." He ran his hand down the side of her face to her chest. It was at that moment when Tex sprang into action "You bar...aaaahhhh." Before he could get close to Aris he received a wrecking ball sized fist in the gut for his trouble from one of the heavies and he went down on his knees. As they were all looking at Tex, Joe took advantage of the distraction and leapt forward at Ephraim landing a solid right punch that knocked him off balance. He then threw another, then another but that one was blocked and a flurry of punches was exchanged between Ephraim and Joe. Aris was only seconds behind Joe. She raked the eyes of her would be attacker blinding him, then took his weapon and fired at him at point blank range; he was dead before he hit the ground. She then went over to tend to her husband. Frank was hot on the heels of both of them. He grabbed the weapon of the heavy closest to him, taking him by surprise, and rammed the butt of the weapon into his face knocking him out. The other heavy was slow to react, as Frank aimed the phaser at him and pulled the trigger. But it didn't fire, so Frank threw the phaser at the heavy and charged him with a crashing tackle. As they both got up the heavy decided that he would charge Frank, but Frank was ready for it and, as he got near, Frank turned to his side, dropped to one knee, and using the momentum of the heavy, he threw him over his head sending him crashing to the floor. As the heavy tried to get back to his feet Frank was on him in an instant. He placed his huge arms around the heavy's neck and squeezed until he stopped struggling. As Frank let the heavy fall to the floor he looked over to where Joe was and saw the he was in trouble. Ephraim, the bigger more powerful of the two, was throwing punishing punches at Joe who was doing his best to defend himself. But Ephraim had the upper hand, so Frank reached into his jacket and pulled out a knife which he threw it as hard as he could at Ephraim. The knife imbedded itself in Ephraim's right leg and he roared in pain as he went crashing to the ground. For a fraction of a second Joe wondered what had happened, then he then saw Ephraim on his back clutching his leg, Joe took advantage and unleashed a powerful left hook that sent Ephraim crashing to the floor. Everybody gathered around Ephraim as he held up his hands. Joe said "Look, you go back to Wade and Wilbur and tell them we changed our minds. Take the money with you." Gritting his teeth, Ephraim took hold of the knife and pulled it out of his leg. He then got to his feet using his good leg for support and put his face only a few inches away from Joe's saying "Keep the money. Use it to buy yourself a funeral because, no matter how far you run, I'll track you down and I'll make sure you suffer." "Damn" said Joe. He took out his phaser, set it to maximum, pointed it at Ephraim and fired. Ephraim vaporized. Joe looked around, pointed to the unconscious heavy and said, "Bring him." Joe slapped his face and the heavy came to. Looking around, he saw that the others were dead and his boss was nowhere to be seen - he could only assume that he was dead. The heavy, had no intentions of dying just yet, so when Joe told him to take the money back to Wade and Wilbur and tell them that they had changed their minds, he agreed that that was the best thing to do. Joe and Aris then took the shuttle and piloted it to a spot just outside town. "OK, this is about as far as I dare go. We'll have to drag it from here then we can contact the police and tell them where the medication is" said Joe. "Why don't you tell them yourself". They both turned around to see officer Artemis Owen, who had questioned them earlier that day, appear from the bushes on the side of the road along with three other officers. "I got word that a ship that had landed not far from here, so I came looking, didn't imagine I'd run into you though" said the officer. Joe said, "I didn't think we'd see you either". One of the officers walked towards the box, opened it up and examined the content. "It's all there" he said. Artemis walked over to Joe and said, "I understand the work is difficult to come by these days, and when a job comes along a man might not look to closely at what that job might be, then he learns of a situation like ours and then he's got a choice to make." "I believe he has at that" said Joe. Artemis looked at Aris then back at Joe and said "OK, there's people waiting on these meds, let's get it loaded up." As they all left Joe and Aris breathed a sigh of relief.

A fter they collected Tex and Frank they flew back to the Jewel where Cole and Chel were waiting. As soon as they docked Joe said "Tex, would you take the helm and get us out of here pretty damm smart please. I'm sure that fellow whom we let go will have contacted Wade and Wilbur by now and we all know how easy it is to hurt their feeling." "You think they'll send somebody after us?" asked Tex. "I'll be surprised if there isn't somebody on their way right now" Joe replied. As Tex hurried to the bridge Aris said, "So it looks like we can scratch Wade and Wilbur off our business list then." "Yes, but don't worry there's plenty of disreputables we can do business with" Joe answered. "Well, that's a load off my mind then" said Aris sarcastically. Joe made his way to the bridge him and, just before he walked onto the bridge, Tex said "Looks like we've made a clean getaway". "Nobody following us?" asked Joe. Tex shook his head and said "No, we're in the clear, we'll break atmo any minute then we can go to warp." "Good, I want to put as much distance as possible between us and here" Joe replied emphatically. "What course should I set?" asked Tex. "We need to find another job as soon as, but the only place I can think of right now is Moss Eisley" said Joe. Tex replied "Are you sure?" Joe answered, "I know, but we should get some work their pretty quick, and it's out of the way." Tex shrugged his shoulders and said "Moss Eisley here we come." Neither of them knew, however, that they wouldn't be making it to Moss Eisley.

For the next few hours there was an air of anticipation on the ship, everybody was expecting whoever Wade and Wilbur had sent to show up, and then there would be a crazy game of cat and mouse in different sectors of the quadrant. But when nothing happened they all started to relax. Joe went to his quarters and couldn't help but wonder what kind of job he and his crew would be asked to do next. Tex was at the helm and keeping an eye on things; Frank was in his quarters cleaning his weapons; Chel was in engineering keeping an eye on the engines; and Aris and Cole were in the galley. It was the Doc's turn to make dinner and he had decided on firm favourite of sausage and mash. But he soon found that he had an audience in Cole and Aris who harassed him for a few of his cooking secrets. Everything was coming back too normal when Tex's voice came over the intercom and said "Cap'n, are you there?" "Yeah, what is it?" asked Joe. "I've got something on sensors that I don't like the look of, you might want to get up here." Joe walked onto the bridge and said, "Alright what have you got?" "Take a look for yourself" answered Tex. Joe looked at a display mounted on the bulkhead, it showed three objects at the edge of sensor range directly behind them. "Are those ships?" asked Joe. "Yes, but I don't know whose, they're too far out of range to identify" Tex replied. "How do you know they are ships?" asked Joe. "Because I've changed course twice and they've stayed with us; they're shadowing us" said Tex. "Go to max speed" said Joe. Tex punched some commands into the helm and the Jewel went up to her maximum speed. In the galley Aris felt the increase in speed. "Did you feel that?" she said to Cole who shook his head. So, Aris went over to a nearby intercom and said, "Is everything OK Tex, I felt us speed up?" The voice that replied was Joe's. "I'm afraid we may have some company." "Is there anything we can do?" asked Aris. "Not right now, just sit tight. Hopefully it's nothing" Joe answered. On the bridge Tex was watching the objects on his console. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they're gaining" he said. Joe looked at the console screen on. "How long until we get to Moss Eisley?" he asked. "At our present speed - two hours twenty minutes." And, anticipating Joe's next question, said "They'll have caught us up in an hour and five." Joe was stuck, he wasn't sure what to do. So, for the next few minutes Joe sat watching the sensor contacts as he weighed his options. During those minutes the ship's computer identified the ships following them; they were Nausicaan long range raiders. Joe had heard of these ships before, but had never seen them until now. He had, however, seen what these ships could do. There had been more than one occasion where they had come across the wreckage of a freighter that had fallen prey to these raiders. He also knew that that Nausicaans, as well as being pirates, were thugs for hire. It didn't matter if they had run into a trap or if Wade and Wilbur had hired them, Joe was not going to let him and his crew become their next victims. But outrunning them was fast becoming futile and, because Jewel didn't have any weapons, so was fighting them. The only thing to do was try and out think them.

Joe sat down at a console; he tapped a few buttons on the panel and the sensor display came up. He looked the display for a minute then said "Tex, adjust course to two fifteen mark five." Tex adjusted his course and said, "You got a plan cap?" "There's a nebula at those coordinates, we can hide in there. With any luck they'll give up and go home. The only problem is that our visual and sensors will be patchy and the shields won't work" said Joe. "Won't that put us at even more of a disadvantage?" asked Tex with some concern. "Not if we can lure them in there. They'll be affected too, and that'll make things much better for us". Joe walked over to the intercom and said "Attention, we are being pursued by Nausicaan raiders. Now, either we've just ran into one of their traps or this is a present from Wade and Wilbur. However, that is not important, but that they are chasing us is. We can't outrun them, nor can we fight them, so I've set a course for a nearby nebula, with any luck we can hide in there long enough for them to give up and go home. How long that'll be I don't know. Fingers crossed it won't be too long. That is all." Joe walked over to Tex and asked, "Do you think you can drop us out of warp right on top of that nebula?" Tex looked at Joe and said, "Sure can Cap'n". "Then do it, I want to get into that nebula as soon as possible" Joe replied. Tex was as good as his word and brought them out of warp right on top of the nebula, which they were soon into. As soon as they were, on Joe's instruction, Tex made a sharp right turn. The Nausicaans followed them into the nebula, but went straight on instead of turning right, and so began one of the longest games of cat and mouse Joe and his crew had played. On the second day of playing hide and seek Joe was beginning to think that they had given up. He had brought Tex some Yridian tea, and they were sitting on the bridge discussing whether the Nausicaans had left or not when the proximity alarm went off. Tex spun around to his console. "Is it the Nausicaans?" asked Joe earnestly. "I don't think so, but whatever it is it's right on top of us" Tex replied. "Can you get it on the screen?" asked Joe. "I'll try, one minute" said Tex. He switched the screen on to show an outline of a ship passing overhead. Tex looked down at his console and said, "No wonder we didn't see it until it reached our proximity barrier, it's adrift, there's no power signature coming from it what so ever." "A derelict?" asked Joe. "Looks like it. You thinking of going aboard?" asked Tex. "A ship like that could be worth quite a bit of salvage" said Joe. "You want to salvage it?" queried Tex. "I think we should see if we can at least try, don't you?" Joe replied. Tex commented "Aren't you forgetting about the Nausicaans? " "We haven't seen them since we got into this nebula. I think they've given up and gone home, they aren't exactly known for their patience. Take us closer, let's have a look at it" said Joe. Tex brought the Jewel close to the strange ship, they both looked at it for a few minutes without saying anything. Then Tex said "I've seen these ships before, I remember I was going through an old database when we were at the old research facility on Hera last year. I came across a file that had some ship designations – I think this is an old Federation ship, Sabre class if I remember right. They're light escort ships." Joe looked at the ship for a few seconds longer then said, "I remember hearing stories about the Federation, they were some sort of galactic empire that had loads of worlds under their control, or something like that." "I'll swing us around the front. If I remember, Federation ships have their name and registry number on the front" said Tex. He brought Jewel around to the front of the ship and both Joe and Tex stared at the view screen. Tex pointed and said, "USS Banshee, so that's what they called her." Joe went over to an intercom and said "Chel you there?" Chel's voice came back. "I hear you, what's up?" "Could you come up to the bridge, there's something here I want you to look at." A minute later Chel walked onto the bridge and saw the ship on the view screen. "Oh wow, that's a Federation star ship, Sabre class I think". Chel got closer to the view screen. "She's a beauty, look at them lines, those Federation types sure knew their stuff" said Chel. "She's called the Banshee" said Joe. "Banshee? Hmm, a spirit whose wail is said to foretell death. Well it looks like that, not only did she foretell death, but was also the bringer of death" Chel stated. He enlarged a section of the view screen and, despite the distortion, Chel managed to get a good picture of what he wanted them to see. "Look at them, she's been outfitted with cannons, very heavy-duty firepower for a ship of this size. And that's on top of what she's already got. You plan on salvaging her Cap'n?" said Chel. Joe looked at him and said, "I think we might do it at that". "In that case I'll get some suits ready. She ain't got no power and I saw that the escape pod hatches were open. My guess is that some of the nebula gas has gotten inside" said Chel. "OK, you do that and I'll gather everybody and tell them what the plan is" said Joe.

"So that's it, nice and simple and with any luck it should net us a tidy profit which should be more than make up for that train job. Any questions?" asked Joe as he looked everybody. Aris said, "Isn't this a bit risky, doing a salvage operation with the Nausicaans still out there?" "It's been over twenty-four hours since we last saw them and Nausicaans aren't known for their patience. I think they've given up and gone home" said Joe. Everybody looked at each other, then Joe said "OK, if nobody has anything else to say we'll make a start. Once we've docked, myself, Aris, Chel and Tex will suit up. Tex, you and Chel will check out engineering, me and Aris will go to the bridge. Chel says that, because there's no power, we'll have use the Jefferies tubes to get around until power is restored" said Joe. "Jefferies tubes?" queried Frank. "It's what they called the maintenance conduits, they run throughout the ship. Once we get where we need to be we'll ascertain the state of the ship. Who knows, we might be able to fly her out of here" said Chel optimistically. "I've found an internal schematic of a Sabre class ship on the computer and I've downloaded it to your helmet HUD, so you'll be able to see where you are going otherwise you'll get turned around easy. Our air supply is good for just over six hours, more than enough time to check her out" said Tex. They were just finishing the last few checks to their suits when Tex manoeuvred the Jewel to a docking hatch on the Banshee and had gotten a good seal. As they put on their helmets Joe said "Now just remember, even though the escape pods were ejected it doesn't mean all the crew got out. So, there's a chance we may see some bodies while we're over there, so just watch yourselves - OK?" Everyone nodded their heads and Joe pressed a button opening the air lock. The doors opened and they crossed over to the closed doors of the Banshee but, because there was no power to open them, Joe had brought some suction pads with him. He attached them onto the door and pulled but it didn't move. So, he got Frank to help him and together they managed to get the door open. When they were all inside Joe said "OK, you all know what you've got to do, so let's get to it". As Joe and Aris worked their way through the Jefferies tubes, neither of them came across any dead bodies, but they did come across some tools that had just been left by whoever had been using them. They guessed somebody was doing some work in the tube just before the ship was abandoned. Chel and Tex made it to engineering and Chel went over to the warp core giving it a good once over. "Hmm, warp core seems OK" he muttered. Then he said to Tex "Go over to that console and see if it says how much Deuterium it's got left in its tanks". Tex went over to the console and slapped on a small portable energy cell he had brought over. The console came to life and Tex punched in some commands. As he did so, both he and Chel heard Joe's voice fill their helmets. "Guys, we've reached the bridge, but we haven't seen anything or anybody along the way, did you?" "No, it looks like everybody made it out" Chel replied. "Alright, let me know how you get on with those engines" said Joe. Tex was the next to speak to Chel. "OK, I think I've got it. Oh, this is not good. It says here that the Deuterium tanks are practically dry, but there's still some juice left in the emergency batteries, enough to get life support and artificial gravity back on and get some lighting in here for a few hours at least." "Tex to bridge team - the warp core is off line and the Deuterium tanks are empty, but there is some power left in the emergency batteries, enough for gravity, life support and some lighting." "OK, switch them on" Joe replied. Tex punched in a few commands and the gravity and life support came back on line, and the lights that had been dormant for years came to life and the hatches for the escape pods closed automatically. "That's good" said Joe. "Now I want you two to get yourselves up here and I'll ask Frank and the Doc to join us so we can discuss what to do next.". Back on the bridge of the Jewel, Frank and Cole had been keeping one eye on the sensors and the other on what was happening on the Banshee when Joe's voice came over the speakers on the bridge. "Frank, you there?" Frank sat up in his chair and pressed a button on the helm "Yeah, go ahead" said Frank. "I want you and the Doc over here, we've got life support and artificial gravity back up, come straight to the bridge" said Joe. It was Chel and Tex who got to the bridge first, shortly followed by Frank and Cole. "Good, now that we're all here we can go through what we need to do. Chel, what do we have to work with?" said Joe. "Not much I'm afraid, the Deuterium tanks are dry, we've got emergency batteries, but they won't last long. However, everything is intact from what I can see" said Chel. "Can we transfer some of the Deuterium from Jewels tanks?" asked Joe. "I think so, I could rig up a fuel transfer line so we could get some Deuterium in those tanks and, while we're doing that, we can transfer some power as well. If we're lucky we can jump start the warp core, then the rest should be easy. "OK, good. I want you and Tex to get on to it. In the meantime, the rest of us will search the ship. Frank, you and the Doc will start at the bottom and work your way up, me and Aris will start here and work our way down. Any questions?" asked Joe. Nobody had anything else to say so Joe said "OK, we all know what we need to do so let's get to it." As everybody headed for the turbolift, Aris walked towards the Captain's chair and sat down in it. "You ok Aris?" said Joe. Aris looked at Joe and said "I met a man once who claimed he was once a part of the Federation. That was when I worked at Morns. He said that he served on one of their ships as a lieutenant and he used to go on and on saying how great the Federation was, and about all the different species that were in it. He even said that he had a friend that was a giant cat; he made it sound like another world. I thought it was just a fantasy of his, we would get those types in from time to time. But here, I am actually on the bridge of a Federation ship; this is proof that what that guy said about the Federation was more than just stories." Joe sat in the chair beside hers and said, "Did he ever say what happened to them, the Federation that is?" Aris replied, "Only once, he said that they were at war with a species called the Iconians and lost." "Iconians? Never heard of them" said Joe. "Me neither, but it does make you wonder what happened to them" said Aris. "What do you mean? " queried Joe. "Well, that guy from the bar made it sound like the Iconians wanted to rule everything and everybody. But here we are, sure there's no Federation but there's no Iconians either, so what happened to them?" Aris replied. "I've no idea, but these Iconians must have been pretty powerful because this ship, as old as it is, is more than a match for anything I've seen or heard of" said Joe. Aris nodded her head in agreement then, just as she was about to get up to leave she looked at control panel on the Captain's chair and noticed something. "There's an active file here" said Aris. She tapped a few buttons on the console. At first there was just static, then a voice could be heard, _"...took on as many survivors as we could, but we had to leave many more behind otherwise the Iconians would have destroyed us. Our crew has more than doubled so I've given the order to double up in quarters and, with any luck, there won't be too much overcrowding….."_ "I think this is the Captains log" said Aris. "Is there anymore?" asked Joe "They're partially fragmented, I can access bits of logs. Let's try this one" said Aris.". _"...convinced that we're being hunted, we spotted a Iconian ship on long range sensors and changed course to avoid it. That's the second one is as many hours, I don't think we'll be able to make it to Elnath Five now, so I've set a course for the new Vesta colony. It was a long way behind our lines during the war, so it should be untouched by the Iconians. But it's a hell of a long way, just over four months at maximum warp. On a brighter note, the Klingons and Romulans we rescued seem to be getting along better now. I_ hope that's a good sign." "Anymore" Joe asked with growing interest. "One minute" replied Aris." _"...has gotten no better, our Deuterium is very low and, even with the Bussard collectors running flat out, we're still using more fuel than we're collecting. Even with all the power saving measures we've taken. My Chief Engineer says we'll run out of fuel before reaching New Vesta. I've ordered continuous scans for any Y-class planets, nebulas, anything that we can use as fuel, but nothing so far. Morale among the crew is low."_ "This one is the last entry the Captain made" said Aris. _"Our ship can no longer sustain us, so I've ordered everyone into the escape pods and shuttles. We passed an M-class planet two days ago and I've told everyone to set a course for it. But it's far behind us and, at sub light speeds, it'll take many weeks to get there. I don't know if we'll make it but we don't have a choice. To anybody that find's this log I want it to go on the record that the crew of the Banshee acted with bravery and distinction. I hope our ship finds her way without us."_ Aris looked at the control panel and said "If I'm reading this right, that message was made over forty years ago. I hope they made it" said Aris. "So, do I" Joe replied.

A search of the ship turned up nothing special, just personal items that had been left behind when the ship was abandoned and they confirmed that all the escape pods and shuttles had been launched. In the meantime, Chel had gone back to the Jewel and started the fuel and power transfer. "OK, levels look good but I'll have to stay here and keep an eye on the fuel, make sure we don't bleed ourselves dry" said Chel. "No problem, I'll keep an eye on it from here, but let me know when you're going to shut the fuel transfer off" Tex replied. A few minutes later Cole found Chel in Jewels engine room and said, "I've taken some of the medical supplies I've found and put them in the aft cargo area, I hope that's OK?" Chel responded "That's fine, we can sort it out later." "How much do you think we're gonna get for that ship?" asked Cole. "I don't know, but I do know that if we can get it to run it'll be worth a lot" Chel answered. He then tapped a few buttons on his console and the sound of the Deuterium flowing to the Banshee stopped. He pressed another button saying "OK Tex, I've shut the fuel off, you can start powering up when you're ready." Chel waited for a reply but there was none. "Tex, can you hear me?" As there was still no reply, Chel pressed another button on his console and said "Cap, you there?" But there was still no reply; he tried Aris but she didn't answer either. Chel looked back at the Doc and said, "That's strange, I wonder why they ain't answering." "Maybe it's the effects of the nebula?" Cole observed. "Maybe, I better get over there see what's going on" said Chel. "I'll go with you" Cole replied. As Chel and Cole headed to Banshee's engineering area to find Tex, Chel heard something he didn't like the sound of. He motioned to the Doc to be quiet and then listened for a few seconds. Then quickly he turned around and bundled himself and the Doc into a passage way just off to the side of the corridor. Cole was just about to ask what was going on when Chel put his hand over his mouth and made a sign to stay quiet. They stood with their backs against the wall and two Nausicaans walked past unaware they were there. Chel and Cole watched them walk past and continue down the corridor and they breathed a sigh of relief. "How the hell did the Nausicaans get here?" hissed Cole. "They must have come across this ship like we did, then they saw us docked with it, so they decided that they'll take it and us. Damn, my phaser is back on the Jewel. We need to get back there and get some weapons" said Chel. As they made their way back to the Jewel they kept an eye and ear out for any more Nausicaans but, when they got to the air-lock, they found it closed and locked. "Oh no nooo!" cried Chel quietly. They both looked out of the tiny windows of the air lock to see that the Jewel had been released and was floating free away from the Banshee. Then it exploded in a white and orange fireball. Both of them stared for a few seconds in disbelief. "What the hell are we going to do now?" demanded Cole. Chel looked at Cole, his face a mask of anger; he thought for a second then said, "We're going free the others, then take the ship." "Are you mad? We have no weapons, I'm no commando and neither are you. Furthermore, we don't know how many Nausicaans are on board" Cole stated. "Well, if you have any other ideas - now's the time" Chel replied. Just then the lights went from dim to full illumination. Both Chel and the Doc looked up as the ship came to life. "They're powering up" said Chel. Cole looked at Chel and said, "Didn't these ships have a weapons locker?" "Yes, yes, we need to get to a computer terminal so I can find out where it is" Chel said enthusiastically. They both headed off with Chel leading the way, but it wasn't long before he put his hand up telling the Doc to stop. Cole didn't need telling what was wrong, he could hear them. They were close - Nausicaans. Cole tapped Chel on the shoulder and motioned to a room off to the side. Chel nodded his head and they hustled into the room. As they looked around the room, Chel saw a computer terminal. "Nice one Doc, I should be able to access the database from here" said Chel. Cole realised he had inadvertently led them into the sickbay. Both he and Chel walked over to a nearby console and Chel began tapping the screen while Cole kept an eye out for Nausicaans. "Damn, the computer says I need a Level Six clearance code. Without that I can't find out where the weapons locker is." Chel slammed his fists down on the console in frustration. "Calm down, what can you find out?" asked Cole. "All I can tell you is the ship's name and that we're travelling at warp three on a course of three eighteen mark two five" said Chel. "Where does that take us?" asked Cole. "I don't know, their base I guess" Chel replied. "Well, we can't wander around aimlessly and hope to find this weapons locker, we need a plan - fast" said Cole. Just then Chel put his hand up for the Doctor to stop talking, he went over to the door and listened for a few seconds, he then hurried back to the Doc and said, "we've got company, quick back there". Both rushed into an office and crouched down low just as a Nausicaan came in carrying another that had been injured with burns to his face. Cole looked at Chel and he could see that he was thinking about rushing the Nausicaan. Then in a split-second decision, as the Nausicaan was helping the injured one onto a bio-bed with his back turned, Cole stood up and walked towards the Nausicaan. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the expression on Chel's face - it said, 'what the hell are you doing?' As the Nausicann helped his injured comrade onto the bio bed Cole quietly approached the Nausicaan, making sure that he didn't make a sound. As soon as hr got close to the Nausicaan he quickly jabbed his fingers into the lower left part of the Nausicaans back. The Nausicaan reacted by standing up straight but he was unable to move no matter how hard he tried. Cole looked over to where Chel was "you can come out, he can't do anything even if he wanted to". Chel slowly stood up and walked over to Cole and the Nausicaan "what did you do to him?" asked a surprised Chel as he looked at the Nausicaan. "Nausicaans have a nerve cluster in the lower part of their back, a direct hit immobilises them" said Cole looking smug. "Really? Look at you you ugly piece of targ dung, I bet your own mother cried when she saw how ugly you are" Chel was smiling as he insulted the Nausicaan, and the Nausicaans eyes burned with rage. "it will only be a few minutes before he can move again" said Cole before Chel went any further. "oh, in that case". Chel picked up a nearby container and hit the Nausicaan on the side of the head knocking him out. "how did you know about that nerve cluster?" asked Chel. "I am a doctor, remember" Cole replied. The Nausicaan on the bio bed came around and said "Doctor". Cole put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Lie still, you've had a nasty accident". He reached for a hypo syringe and injected him in the neck; the Nausicaan fell unconscious in seconds. Chel watched the Nausicaan fall into unconsciousness and an idea came into his mind. "That's it, why didn't I think of that before. But we can't get to the bridge or engineering to make it work. I wonder if I can trigger it from here?" said Chel. As he walked over to a console Cole responded, "What are you talking about?". As Chel started to operate the console he replied "Ships like these have counter measures against intruders, one of them is Anesthizine gas, which is pumped through the environmental systems. If I can trigger it, we can knock everybody out. The trick is to hope that whoever is on security on the bridge isn't paying close attention to their console, otherwise the game is up. But I need you to make us something that'll counter the effects of the gas so we can inject the others with it." Cole went back to the medical cabinet and got some medication ready. Chel's hands danced over the console until he said "OK, I'm in and I'm going to flood the ship with the gas, everywhere except here. Are you ready?" "Yeah, I'm ready" replied Cole. Chel pressed a button and a faint hissing sound could be heard. After a minute Cole asked, "Do you think it worked?" "There's only one way to find out" Chel replied. Both Chel and Cole went into the corridor outside. "Which way?" asked Cole. "The bridge, from there we can find out where the others are" said Chel. As they made their way to the bridge they came across four unconscious Nausicaans in the corridor leading to the turbo lift, and when they got to the bridge they came across four more Nausicaans - all unconscious, slumped over their consoles. "That's eight all together" said Cole. "Yeah, and you can bet that there'll be more in engineering" Chel replied. "They can't all be from those fighters that chased us?" said Cole. "No, there's too many, which means there's another ship nearby." Chel pointed to the tactical station and said "Check the sensors, see if there's another ship out there. I'll check the helm". Cole went over to the tactical station and said, "If I read this right there's a ship seven thousand yards off the stern." "I've found the others, they're in the main cargo bay" said Cole. "You go and wake them, I'll stay here" said Chel. As Cole entered the cargo bay he saw Joe, Aris, and Frank on the floor. He injected them with the hypos he had brought with him and they soon came around "Oh god, what was that?" said Joe as he coughed. Joe looked around and saw Cole injecting Frank. "How you feeling?" asked Cole. "I've got one hell of a headache" Joe replied. "It's the effect of the Anesthizine, it'll soon wear off" said Cole. "What were Nausicaans doing on the ship?" asked Joe. "We think they were the same ones who were chasing us before" Cole replied. Joe then looked at Cole saying, "How come you didn't get caught?" "I was with Chel on the Jewel while he was doing the fuel transfer, when our hails went unanswered we came on board to find out what had happened. That's when we saw the Nausicaans. It was Chel came up with the idea to use Anesthizine gas to knock them out and take control of the ship. By the way, you should know that they have destroyed the Jewel" said Cole. "God damn bastard Nausicaans, where is Chel?" Joe responded angrily. "He's on the bridge with four more unconscious Nausicaans getting the systems back online. Also, there's another ship out there, probably their mother ship" said Cole. Aris and Frank were starting to come around, "Ohhh my head" said Aris. "Flipping rotten Nausicaans" said Frank. "What happened?" asked Aris. Joe looked at her and said, "The Doc and Chel have taken control of the ship." When Joe said that Aris saw that Cole had a smug look on his face. Frank looked at Cole and said "Great, I miss all the fun". Cole turned to look at Frank saying, "There still maybe some fun to be had because there's the Nausicaan mother ship that we have to deal with." Frank responded "Good, I love payback." "Me too" said Joe.

The door of the turbo lift hissed open and Chel, who was at the helm, span around in his chair, but he relaxed when he saw the others walk onto the bridge. "Hey Cap, nice to see you up and about" welcomed Chel. Joe smiled and replied, "Doc says that you came up with that plan to knock everybody out to take control of the ship." Chel looked at Joe saying "Well, actually the Doc gave me the idea, but, yeah - not just a pretty face after all." Aris joined the conversation "So, what's the plan?". Joe looked at the unconscious Nausicaans and replied "I think our guests have overstayed their welcome. Chel do you think you can transport them back to their ship while we're at warp?" Chel said "It'll be tricky, but I think so." "OK, do that. You take the engineering station, Tex, you're our helmsman, Aris you take ops, Frank, tactical, Doc you take the science station. It's going to be all hands-on deck for this." Joe sat down in the Captain's chair and looked at the view screen that showed the Nausicaan ship behind them. "Tex, do you have any idea where they were taking us?" asked Joe. "ˋFraid not Cap, the course they've plotted is taking us into uncharted space" Tex responded. "Ready to transport Cap'n" said Chel. "Alright, this is what we're going to do. Chel, you beam the Nausicaans back to that ship. Tex once he's done that you drop us out of warp. Frank, you raise the shields and power up the weapons. Now, you guys ready?" They all nodded their heads. "OK Chel, do it." Chel tapped a few buttons on the console, and a few seconds later he said, "Transport complete." "Bring us out of warp Tex" said Joe. Tex cut power to the Banshee's warp engines, slamming on the brakes, which caused the Nausicaan ship to carry straight on. "Frank, raise shields and power up the weapons" Joe commanded. "The Nausicaan ship has dropped out of warp and is coming about" said Aris. "Frank, how's them weapons? " Joe demanded. Frank replied, "Weapons are online and are at full power, but I'm not sure about those cannons, I'm reading power fluctuations in them." "Chel, do you know why that is?" asked Joe. "It could have something to do them being a retrofit, or could be because they've been sitting around unused for god knows how long" Chel responded. Then Aris advised "The Nausicaan ship is now heading straight for us." "Frank, as soon as they are in range you hit them with everything we've got. Tex, we're gonna need them flying skills you've been boasting about" said Joe.

As the Nausicaan ship bore down on the Banshee, it opened fire. But, thanks to Tex's manoeuvring, it missed - just. "Frank, anytime about now would be good" said Joe emphatically as the Nausicaan ship filled the view screen. Frank returned fire with a volley of torpedoes and phaser fire that left the Banshee and then found their target, exploding on the enemy ship's shields. The two ships flew past each other like two knights in a jousting competition. Tex threw the Banshee into a hard-right turn; the Nausicaan ship, being bigger, couldn't turn as quick as the Banshee but its weapons had a greater range as they opened fire. On the bridge of the Banshee sparks flew as it was hit by the Nausicaan weapons. "Frank, how about we give these Nausicaans a taste of their own medicine?" said Joe. "I'm trying, but these controls are sluggish" Frank replied. "Tex, get us in behind them" said Joe. "I'll try Cap'n, but I'm having the same problems as Frank, she's not reacting as quickly as she should" Tex answered. "Chel, what's going on, how come the controls are slow?" said Joe. "Cap'n she's been sitting around for years being exposed to nebula gas, we're lucky we got her to fly let alone taking her into combat" said Chel. "Do you think you can keep us in the fight?" Joe asked urgently. "I'll do what I can" Chel replied. "About damn time, cannons are online Cap" said Frank. "Then by all means fire!" Joe said quickly. The Banshee's cannons shot out great balls of phaser fire that hit the Nausicaan ship on its engines. "That hurt them, their aft shields are down to fifty- five per cent" said Cole. "It's also made them mad, they're launching fighters" said Aris. Everyone looked at the view screen to see about half a dozen small ships being launched from the rear of the Nausicaan ship and head straight for them. "Err Frank, could you do something about them fighters" said Joe. Frank punched in some commands and the Banshees phasers cut a path to the fighters, two were destroyed but the rest managed to get out of the way. Tex executed some evasive manoeuvres so the fighters found it difficult targeting them, but the fighters were more agile and managed to stay with the Banshee and, try as hard as he might, Tex couldn't shake them. Frank was having a hard time as well, not only because the controls were acting sluggish, but as soon as he got a lock on any of the fighters it was broken by them jinking all over the place. But, all too soon, things worsened. "That Nausicaan mother ship is on an intercept course with us, her weapons are fully charged. I think they're going to ram us" said Aris trying to stay calm. "God damn piece of junk" exclaimed Frank as he slammed his fist down on his console. "What, what is it?" asked Joe. "We're out of torpedoes and, by the way, they've launched four more fighters" said Frank. For the first time, since this escapade had begun back in Meskloo, the word surrender came into Joe's mind. If it was just him he would fight but he had his crew to think about. Then Aris said "There's another ship approaching at high warp. I can't get an ID on her." Thinking that the Nausicaans had called in reinforcements Joe said, "Put it on screen." They saw the ship drop out of warp almost on top of the fighters that were behind them. Aris said "You've gotta be kidding me, the computer says that it's another Federation ship, USS Chimera." Everyone stared at the screen in astonishment and watched as the ship closed on the fighters and destroyed them with a phaser barrage. The Nausicaan mothership adjusted its course and headed for this new threat, firing some photon torpedoes, which seemed to have little effect on the Chimera shields. Thinking quickly, Joe said "Frank, target their engines and hit them with everything you've got." Deadly phaser fire cut through space hitting its mark on the Nausicaan ship engines. Then the Chimera had its say with a full broadside of phaser fire as it passed. Chel said "It looks like the Nausicaan ship is withdrawing. They're in a bad way though, sensors show their warp plasma flow is fluctuating. If they try to go to warp they'll..." Chel was cut off by a bright light - the Nausicaan ship had exploded. The sudden increase in power was too much for its battle-damaged engines to handle. Joe saw the ship explode and was reminded of fireworks he had seen as a boy years ago. Then he heard Frank say "Cap, we're being hailed." A dozen scenarios raced through Joe's mind all at once. "Chel, what's our status?" asked Joe. "Well, the good news is that we're alive and in one piece. The bad news is that we're low on Deuterium, we can go to warp but there's nowhere in range for us to warp to. Normally we'd use the collectors to suck up any deuterium particles, but they're not working, probably neglect from not being used for so long" said Chel. Joe heard a beeping and Frank say, "They're repeating their hail." Joe took a deep breath as he commended "On screen." The screen crackled and the image of an Asian human woman wearing what Joe guessed to be a Starfleet uniform appeared on the screen. She got up out of her chair and walked towards the view screen and Joe could see that she had black shoulder length hair that was brushed to the left side of her face, big brown eyes, and soft facial features that seemed to be typical with Asian women. "I'm Captain Rekha Kaur of the Federation Starship Chimera, please identify yourself." Joe looked at the screen and said "I'm Joe Russell and this is my crew. It appears we owe you a dept of thanks for coming to our rescue Captain." Captain Kaur said, "That's a nice ship you have their Captain, may I ask where you got it?" "We found it adrift in a nebula, you can't take it from us, it's ours under salvage law" said Joe. Captain Kaur smiled and said "Relax Captain, I've no interest in taking your ship from you. Our sensors show that you're low on Deuterium. We could help you out." "How so?" asked Joe. "Our starbase is just over a day's travel from here. We could take your ship in tow back to our base and refuel your tanks" Captain Kaur replied. "And what's in it for you?" asked Joe. "Access to the ship's computer. After all that is a Federation starship you have there. We'd be very interested in knowing what had happened to her and her crew before she was abandoned." Joe turned around and signalled Frank to mute the audio. "Opinions?" requested Joe. Frank was the first one to speak saying "I don't like it, for all we know they could see us as nothing but pirates, stealing one of their ships. For all we know once, we get to their base, they could lock us up and throw away the key. I say we take our chances and get out of here." Chel responded "And go where, remember we're almost out of fuel, and let's not forget that this ship doesn't have any shuttles or escape pods. We'd be sitting here in EV suits hoping that somebody will rescue us before we'd suffocate." Aris joined in "I don't think we've got much of a choice really, she seems genuine enough, but I am concerned. We all thought that the Federation had been wiped out, yet one of their ships comes to our rescue. For all we know, this could be another lone ship and the Captain is looking to create her own fleet." Tex spoke next "I agree with Aris. Not just because she's my wife, but because I really do believe we don't have a choice - we run we're dead." Joe looked at Cole enquiringly saying, "What about you Doc, you've been pretty quiet, what do you think?" Cole looked at Joe and said "I think we should accept the Captain's offer. Should we run out of power there's no way off this ship, and I don't really think any of us wants to freeze in the cold of space." Joe had a quick look round at his crew then signalled Frank to switch the audio back on. "We accept your offer Captain" he said. Captain Kaur smiled and said, "If you lower your shields we'll transport you aboard." Joe looked at Frank and nodded his head. Frank hit a couple of buttons and the shields came down. The next thing Joe saw was everything turning white, then the whiteness faded away and he found himself in a transporter room. He looked around and saw everybody was with him. Then he heard the door open and in walked Captain Kaur. "Welcome aboard the Chimera. This is my Executive Officer, Commander Gavin Sears. Are you alright?" Joe looked at the Captain; he thought for a split second that security officers were going to come in and haul them off to the brig. "Err, just waiting on security to come and take us away" said Joe. The Captain smiled saying "I meant what I said. I've got no intentions of taking your ship off you. You say you salvaged her, then that's good enough for me, all I want is access to its computer, nothing more" Joe looked at the Captain and replied, "Well then, thank you for the welcome Captain - and for the rescue." Captain Kaur was responding with "Your welcome, if you all will….." when her comms badge beeped. "Bridge to Captain, we've got the Banshee in tow and we've set up a remote data link. We're ready to download its computer files. "Good, start the download and prepare for warp speed tow. Set course for Earth space dock, best speed" Captain Kaur replied. "Aye Captain" came the response." "Now, if you'll excuse me I've got other things I need to attend to. Commander Sears will show you to your rooms. I know you have questions and I will answer them in due time." She looked at Joe and said "I am due to go off watch in three hours. We could meet in Ten For'd. I'll answer your questions then if you like?" said Captain Kaur. "Err sure" said Joe a little hesitantly. "Good, I'll see you then. Excuse me now" said Captain Kaur. As the Captain left he looked at his crew who had big smiles on their faces; "What? I'm just going to get some questions answered that's all". "Would one of those questions be "which deck are your quarters on?" said Frank grinning from ear to ear.

"What can I get you?" asked the barman. "Can I have a Deka tea please" Joe replied. He had found his way to Ten for'd with a little help from the computer and, as he looked around the room, he wasn't sure what to think. A few hours ago, he was in a full-on fire fight with a Nausicaan ship; now here he was about to enjoy a cup of tea in the calming atmosphere of this bar surrounded by loads of strange people enjoying themselves, going god knows where, and with no idea what would happen once they got there. But it was too late to change his mind; the only thing he could do was just go along with it and see how things unfolded. "Your tea sir" said the barman. "Oh, thanks" replied Joe. Just as he was about to reach for some money, he remembered that money wasn't needed on a starship. He walked to a table over by the window, sat down and looked out at the lights streaking past. This view he had seen many times before, but it was usually through a view screen; there was something about being separated from space by only a few inches of transparent aluminium that unnerved him a little. "Do you mind if I join you?" Joe looked up to see Captain Kaur standing beside him. "No, please do" said Joe raising himself up from his seat and gesturing for her to sit down. A waiter came up to their table and the Captain requested a Ktarian chocolate puff and a Tarin juice. The waiter looked over at Joe who shook his head and the waiter left. Captain Kaur said, "I thought the rest of your crew would be here as well?" Joe sat up in his chair and replied genially "Well, Tex and Aris are enjoying some alone time together." "Together, you mean they're involved?" the Captain interrupted. "I mean they're married" Joe continued. "Oh - OK" said the Captain. "Chel is in his quarters. He sat himself in front of a food replicator with a knife and fork and is working his way through the entire menu as we speak. Frank, I believe, has shut himself in your holosuite with a programme that he found, and I have no idea where the Doc is, probably in sick bay sweet talking the nurses, but I'm sure wherever he is he's enjoying himself. I'm glad they're all letting off some steam, we've been through a lot recently" said Joe. "You mean being chased by the Nausicaans?" asked the Captain. "Being hunted by them is more like it" Joe replied. Just then the waiter re-appeared and put the Captain's order down in front of her. "Is that when you discovered the Banshee?" asked the Captain. Joe moved a bit forward in his seat "Yes. Do you mind if I ask you something?" "No, please do" replied Captain Kaur. "How did you find us, we didn't have time to put out a distress call, and what's a starship from a dead empire doing out in the middle of nowhere?" asked Joe. "We were on patrol when our sensors detected weapons fire. We saw that some of those weapons had a Federation signature, and we knew that there were no Federation ships out in that part of space. So, I gave the order to investigate. And, if you won't mind my saying, the Federation isn't or has ever been an empire" stated Captain Kaur. "So, what is it?" asked Joe. "The Federation was, and is, an interstellar federal republic composed of planetary governments that agreed to exist semi-autonomously under a single central government based on the principles of universal liberty, knowledge and equality. We share knowledge and resources with each other so we can explore space" stated Captain Kaur. "Sounds like an empire to me" said Joe. "It isn't. An empire conquers; every one of the Federations members joined willingly and are treated as equals" said the Captain. "So, what happened to the Federation because the only Federation I know only exists in stories" said Joe. "It started over two hundred thousand years ago. A species called the Iconians found their home world under attack by collective of races that had gotten together and decided to attack. We're not no sure why that was, but some say that the technologically advanced Iconians used something called a Gateway, a device that allows travel to anywhere in the universe instantly, to conquer other races. Others say that the Iconians, while they were technologically advanced, were peaceful and other races were jealous of their technology and decided to take it all. What we can be sure of is that the Iconian home world was destroyed by an orbital bombardment two hundred thousand years ago and the Iconian race was thought to be extinct. That is, until just over forty years ago when a race called the Undine began to launch attacks on the Federation for no apparent reason. It was later found out that the reason they did this was because they were being attacked by what they thought were species from the Alpha Quadrant. But it wasn't; the Iconians had manipulated the Undine by sending fake Alpha Quadrant ships into their space and attack them. But the Undine didn't know that the ships were fake, so they attacked us in retaliation. Now, the Federation and the Klingon empire had been fighting each other before that, which we also believe was because of the Undine trying to manipulate us. But the Federation and Klingons worked through their differences and decided to join forces to stop the Undine; they engaged them in battle, which sent the Undine back to their own space. But that wasn't the last they were seen of" said Captain Kaur. "Didn't the Federation try and tell the Undine that weren't responsible for the attacks?" asked Joe. "Of course, numerous diplomatic attempts were made, but they didn't listen. Plus, they had the Iconians whispering in their ear, telling them just how supposedly bad we were. Then we found out that they had joined the Iconians along with Elachi and the Solanae, who were servitor races to the Iconians, and it soon became all-out war. Both sides went on the attack; it looked, at one point, as if it was going to become a war of attrition. But all to soon the Iconians began to make inroads into Federation space. With something as big as the Federation, you can't turn it into a fortress, you have to expect some territorial losses. But, once the Iconians got a foothold, they couldn't be shifted. Colony after colony fell to the Iconians and the war switched from offensive to defensive and, try as hard as they could, the Federation, Klingons and Romulans couldn't regain the initiative. That went on for years - attack, retreat, attack, retreat. Eventually it was realised that they could not be stopped from reaching the Sol system, the heart of the Federation. Every diplomatic effort failed, even when the Federation broadcast it's surrender it fell on deaf ears. It was then that they realised that the Iconians meant to wipe the Federation out, so they began to evacuate earth. One hundred and fifty-four ships were selected to hold the line against the Iconians, everything else was used in the evacuation. When the Iconians and their allies showed up at the edge of the sol system the fleet engaged them in what was probably the biggest, ferocious battle of the war. They bought time for the evacuation with their lives" said Captain Kaur. "But, even with every ship they had, it wouldn't have been enough to evacuate everybody" Joe commented. "It wasn't, and when the Iconian fleet broke through and began to bombard Earth….well, there's no official death toll, but our best guess is that it was in the billions. Before they evacuated the federation looked for another planet to settle on, one that was like Earth so they could rebuild. That's where we're heading to now" said Captain Kaur. "But, if these Iconians won, how come nobody has heard of them?" said Joe. "Because the Solanea and the Elachi turned on them" Captain Kaur replied. "Why?" asked Joe. "We're not entirely sure, all we have is a theory. We think that, because the Elachi saw themselves as masters, while the Iconians were out of the picture they got a taste for power. So, when the Iconians came back into the picture, they had to give up that power. I guess those who were once masters wanted to become masters again. Of course, all of this is just a theory. We have no evidence, all we have are a few old reports of the Elachi and Solanea ships fighting Iconian vessels soon after Earth fell, but nothing since. Not one single sighting in forty years, not that we're complaining, we've done our best to get things back to how they were, but it hasn't been easy. When Earth was evacuated, people were the priority; things that could help rebuild was secondary. Most of the ships that were used in the evacuation were taken apart and used to build homes. We have just over a dozen ships in the fleet now; we are building more but, without a dedicated construction facility, it's slow going. We do have a space dock though; it used to be called Star Base seventy-four. It was the only one still in a serviceable condition and it took every ship we had to tow it to its present location. It's now called Earth Space Dock" said Captain Kaur. "So, what about all those other planets that were in the Federation, what happened to them?" asked Joe. "Those that weren't attacked reverted back to their own governments, only a small handful even know we exist now" said the Captain. "Didn't they want to re-join when they heard the Federation wasn't wiped out?" asked Joe. "Only two have re-joined, Andoria and Vulcan, the others were either too busy rebuilding or couldn't see any benefit in re-joining as the Federation isn't what it used to be" said Captain Kaur. For the next few minutes Captain Kaur ate and Joe drank his tea. He thought about what she had just said and he began to wonder what things would have been like had the Federation won the war. "So, tell me, how did you end up in the Federation?" asked Joe. Captain Kaur looked at him and said "I was born into it; my parents were in the Federation. They served on the USS Havana. Dad was in astrometric's while Mum was in security. I was only two when the battle of the line happened." "Battle of the line?" queried Joe. "The final stand against the Iconian forces in the sol sector, that's what history calls it. Our ship was destroyed. I remember being put into an escape pod, but my Mum and Dad weren't with me. We got picked up by one of the evacuation ships. Luckily my father had been picked up by the same ship. It wasn't until much later that we found out my mother was alive on another ship. We were reunited when we got planet side. As soon as I was old enough I applied to join up, graduated second in my class, climbed through the ranks and made Captain a little over two years ago." "I'm impressed" said Joe. Just then Captain Kaur's com badge beeped "Bridge to Captain, we're being hailed by Starfleet command, it's Admiral T'paar." "Put it through to my quarters. I'll take it there" Captain Kaur replied. She got up from her chair, looked at Joe and said, "I'm sorry but I really must take this." "That's OK, I understand" said Joe. "We'll be at Earth Space Dock in just over twenty hours, I think you'll find it impressive" said the Captain. As she left Joe had little idea what he and his crew were in for.

 **Chapter Three**

The splash of cold water on his face made his nerves tingle, but it did the job of waking him up. He looked at himself in the mirror and examined his face - not too bad when you consider everything he had been through. He picked up a nearby towel and patted his face dry then he looked into the mirror again. This time he saw something he didn't like, a grey hair, he plucked it out then looked at the offending hair, probably the stress of the past few days. I guess it comes to us all in the end, he thought. "Captain Kaur to Captain Russell.". "Go ahead" said Joe. "Would you be so good as to meet me in Ten For'd?" said Captain Kaur. "Sure, I'm on my way" Joe replied. Joe quickly got dressed and ordered a coffee from the replicator on his way out. As he got to the turbo lift he saw Frank waiting patiently for the lift. "Ahh, there you are. I take it the good Captain summoned you to Ten for'd as well?" asked Joe. "Yeah, I stopped by the other's quarters to let them know, but they weren't there. I guess they're already there" said Frank. "So, what programme did you find on the Holo deck?" asked Joe. "Oh, it was just a relaxation programme of sorts" Frank replied with a shrug. "Of sorts?" Joe queried. "It was Vulcan love slave. Don't ask me what a programme like that is doing on a Federation ship, but there it was - well I had to try it" said Frank emphatically. "It doesn't sound like much of a relaxation programme?" Joe said with a smile. "Well, I was relaxed at the end of it" said Frank.

"Ah, please come in" said Captain Kaur. As Joe and Frank walked in they could see that Aris, Tex, Chel and Cole were already there. "I asked you to come down here as I thought that you'd want to see this" said Captain Kaur. "See what?" asked Joe. "You'll see" Captain Kaur replied. Joe walked towards the others and asked, "Do any of you know what's going on?" "ˋFraid not Cap, we're in the dark just as much as you. But we did drop out of warp a few minutes ago" said Tex. They all looked out of the windows of Ten For'd for a minute, then Captain Kaur said "There, there it is, see it?" Everybody looked to where the Captain was pointing and a massive planet came into view. "Is that Earth?" asked Chel. "It's New Earth, the old one is a long way behind us. This is where all the evacuees came to after the Iconians destroyed the old one. The only differences between the old and the new are that this one is three times bigger, has about ten per cent more land mass, and slightly weaker gravity - which defies everything we knew about planets. You can't jump huge distances or anything but, every time I visit Starfleet Command, I weigh six pounds less and I kind of like that." Everyone watched as the planet grew larger as they got closer. Cole said, "is that your space station, err space dock?" "Yes, that's what I wanted you to see. I know I could have called you all to the bridge to see it, but it has much more of an impact like this" said the Captain. "Bridge to Captain, Space Dock has cleared us to dock." "Good, come to a full stop and release the Banshee so that a tug can take her in. Then commence docking procedure" the Captain commanded. Everybody watched as the space dock came into view as it grew bigger and bigger. Chel said "Look at that the size of that thing. I've never seen a space dock so big, that must have taken ages to build." The doors of the space dock opened and the Chimera flew inside. At the far end of the dock two ships were side by side. Tex asked Captain Kaur "What ships are they, they don't look like your typical starship?" "No, they're not. The one on the left is the USS Tempest, she's an Eclipse class carrier, she has complement of forty attack fighters and crew of just under two thousand. The idea for a carrier starship was conceived during the Dominion war, but it wasn't until half way through the Iconian war that the Federation started to build them. Only two were built; one was destroyed by the Iconians making the Tempest the only survivor. The other ship is the Halicarnassus; she's a Galaxy class dreadnought. Galaxy class ships served in the Dominion war and they proved to be very effective, so the Federation began to refit a few of them. But they arrived too late and the war was all but over. It wasn't until the Iconian war that they came into their own. They had the ability to take the fight to the enemy, so the Federation refitted more of them until they had a whole attack wing. But, unfortunately, the Iconians had greater numbers on their side. The Halicarnassus is one of two left from that attack wing. She's also the Admiral's flagship" said Captain Kaur. "I wouldn't mind crawling up her Jeffries tube" said Chel. "Bridge to Captain, docking is complete. Admiral T'paar would like you to report to her office as soon as possible." "Acknowledged" the Captain responded tapping her com badge. "So now what?" asked Joe. "Well, you're free to explore the station and come and go to the ship while we're docked. I have to go to a meeting with the Admiral. But, don't worry about the Banshee, we'll get her fixed up, and I'll discuss your claim of ownership under salvage law with the Admiral. But, knowing her, she'll honour it. If you'll excuse me" said Captain Kaur. They all watched the Captain leave and, when she had left the room, Tex said "Why do I have a strange feeling about all of this?" "What do you mean?" asked Aris. "Well, we find one of their ships while running from some Nausicaans, they rescue us then offer to fix it up for us, and we're supposed to just fly away with it? And let's not forget that they don't have that many ships themselves. I don't like it."

Despite Tex's reservations, and also being strangers, everyone was very welcoming and polite. They decided to explore the main levels of the space dock and, to their surprise, they came across shops, bars and restaurants - they even found a tailor's shop. Frank thought he'd try and get himself a custom Starfleet uniform, but he failed when he was asked for his service number; he mumbled something about having left his number in his other uniform and left, much to the amusement of the others. After they had enough exploring, they found a bar that had a view of the dock area with a nice secluded section in the far corner. A waiter came along and took their orders. After the waiter left Aris remarked "This place is marvellous. I've never been to a space station like it." "Yeah, it's a nice place all right, but I don't think I'd like to live here, just visit" Joe commented. "Let me guess - too many rules, right?" asked Cole. "Something like that. To live here you have to be in Starfleet and obey their rules. When you have your own ship, you can do what you want when you want, no answering to any Admirals, it's just you and your crew" said Joe. "The medical centre here is more advanced than anything I've ever seen, and they can do things that I can only dream of" said Cole. The waiter came over and served their drinks. When he left Joe looked at Chel and asked, "Did you find out how they are getting on with the Banshee?" Chel took a sip of his drink and said "No, the reason being that I'm not in Starfleet, so all the people working on her won't tell me anything. I've no idea what they're doing over there. I'll probably have to go through it deck by deck to find out what they've done." "Excuse me, Captain Russell, the Admiral would like to see you" said a security officer that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Joe downed his drink, stood up and said, "With any luck this will be some good news so, if you'll all excuse me". Then to the security officer he said, "Lead on my good man.

"

"It is good to meet you, Captain Russell, please come in" said the Admiral as Joe stepped into the Admiral's office and shook hands with her. He saw that Captain Kaur was seated at the Admiral's desk. She looked at him and smiled. As he sat down, Joe couldn't help but feel like he had been called into the headmaster's office, waiting to be given a dressing down by this Admiral for taking one of their ships; but none of that happened. Admiral T'paar took her seat at her desk. To Joe she looked like a typical Vulcan woman, short dark hair with a serious look on her face. But the one thing that stood out was that she had ice blue eyes. "Captain, I'll come straight to the point; I've talked with Captain Kaur and she has told me what you told her about finding the Banshee, the fight with the Nausicaans and your salvage claim on it. I have decided to let you keep the ship; obviously, as it will no longer be a Federation ship it cannot have any Federation markings on it, but we will leave the name on it if you like?" said the Admiral. "Erm - yes, thank you" Joe replied. "However, there is something we would like you to help us with, but I must warn you it does carry great risk" said the Admiral. "You want our help with a mission?" asked Joe rather querulously. "Yes" Admiral replied. "But I can say no and the ship will still be mine?" Joe queried. "That is correct" said the Admiral. More relaxed, Joe said "OK, let me hear the details before I decide." The Admiral looked at Captain Kaur then back at Joe; she continued. "Five days ago, Starfleet intelligence learned that a Ferengi called Kro will be holding an auction for a device that he says is a revolution in transportation technology. It gives its owner the ability to go anywhere they chose. We believe this to be an Iconian Gateway, but regretfully intelligence has not been able to confirm whether it is or isn't." "So, why ask me, why don't you send one of your people to do this?" asked Joe. "Because Kro is well known to us and would easily spot a Starfleet officer. Plus, the auction is invite only, and only those that have been invited know where the auction is being held." "So, you want us to find out where the auction is, steal this transporter thing and bring it back?" Joe responded. "Not quite; the plan is to meet up with a friend of ours, his name is Daikin lator, he's been a friend of the Federation for many years and he is a trusted ally. He has been invited to the auction. You and Captain Kaur will meet up with him and go with him to the auction posing as his aids. Then, when you are at the auction, you'll find this transportation device and determine if it is of Iconian origin or not. If it is, you are to destroy it" said the Admiral. "What if it's not Iconian?" asked Joe. "Then leave it and let the auction proceed as normal" the Admiral replied. "Why is Captain Kaur coming along. You said Kro would be able to easily spot one of you?" Joe queried. "Correct, but the Captain is one of the foremost experts in Iconian technology. She'll be able to determine if this device is Iconian or not. Plus, the Captain has never had any dealings with Kro. We believe it to be worth the risk" the Admiral replied. Joe ran a hand through his hair and said, "I need to talk to my crew about this because they'll want to know why they'll be putting their lives on the line." "I understand, but we'll need an answer soon. The auction is in two days" the Admiral observed. With nothing more to say, Joe got up and left the room; and when Captain Kaur excused herself from the Admiral and did the same, she had no inkling if Joe and his crew would help them or not.

"I don't know Cap'n, it sounds like a whole lot of risk with very little reward" said Tex. Frank spoke next. "Plain crazy is what it sounds like. I mean, why should we help them, who knows what kind of people could be at this auction. We've dealt with our fair share of shady people in the past, one of them might recognize you and if they did, then the games over. We don't owe them nothing." Aris responded, "We don't owe them, but if we do this they would owe us, and that could be useful further down the line." "That's just what I was thinking" said Joe. "Ahh, but you are attracted to danger, like a moth to a flame. Remember that job we did to smuggle them priceless Klingon artefacts to Klota Four for that mad Cardassian when we ended up playing cat and mouse with the Captain of that bird of prey - not to mention robbing that train a few days back" said Cole. "Some of the jobs do carry a certain amount of risk I agree" Joe said quietly. "Well, I wouldn't mind a job that's a little bit boring from time to time" Cole replied. Joe sighed and said, "You've been quite Chel, what do you think?" Chel looked at Joe and said "I think it is a risk, but there's risk with almost everything we do. But we've got ourselves a ship, she can't replace the Jewel, but she's something at least. And I agree with Aris. If we pull this off having the Federation owe us, well, that could be helpful." Joe looked at them and said "Alright, we've all had our say now it's time to vote. All those in favour of helping put your hand up." Joe put his hand up, as did Aris and Tex, so did Chel. "OK, the majority say we help. Frank, Doc, don't worry, I'm sure we won't run into any trouble. I'll go find Captain Kaur and tell her the news." As Joe left to find the Captain everybody else started to wonder what they had just got themselves into.

There was a lot more people on his ship than he was used to and, since Captain Kaur had told the Admiral that they had agreed to help, getting the Banshee ready had become a top priority, which meant engineers were swarming all over the ship. As Joe walked along the passage way to the turbolift he came across Chel. "Chel, you got any idea how long these engineers are going to be?" asked Joe. "Oh, they're just finishing up. I'd say about half hour tops" Chel replied enthusiastically. "Good, I want to get underway as soon as possible and get this over with." said Joe as he looked at Chel, who seemed a bit more exuberant than usual. "What's up, are you ok?" he queried. "Captain, this is tremendous, I'm getting reports on all the work the engineers have done. Not only have they filled the Deuterium tanks, they've checked and rebooted the main computer, checked all main and sub systems, replaced a few broken plasma conduits, and they even fixed that squeaky chair at the helm. And I think I've even got a date with Chief Carrick" said Chel smiling. "You mean Alisha Carrick, the red head who's in charge?" asked Joe. "Yeah, she seemed impressed by how much I knew. She told me to look her up when we get back" Chel replied. "Let's hope that we make it back, there are still a few unknowns about this mission, which reminds me, do you know where Captain Kaur is, I've been looking for her for ages?" said Joe. "Yeah, Rekha got back a few minutes ago, I think she's on the bridge" Chel responded. "Rekha? I didn't know you're on first name terms?" said Joe. "Well, she insisted on it. I think it's because it would look strange us calling you and her Captain" said Chel. "I guess so" Joe replied.

The lift doors opened and Joe stepped onto the bridge and he saw Cole, Aris and Tex around the helm talking. "Hey, have any of you seen Captain Kaur?" asked Joe. Tex nodded towards the ready room and said, "She's in there". Joe walked into the ready room and saw Captain Kaur sitting at the desk. When she saw Joe, she got up and walked out from behind the desk saying "Ahh Captain, I've just got back from a meeting with Admiral T'paar. She's managed to get the star ships Highguard and the Chimera to act as a backup just in case there is any trouble". "That's good, but how will they know where we are?" asked Joe. "I'll be wearing a meridian patch which means they can track us up to two sectors away. When we stop they'll wait in a nearby system. If all goes well we won't need them, but if we do they won't be far away" said Captain Kaur. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that" Joe replied. Captain Kaur handed Joe a pad saying "We are to meet Daikin in the Epsilon Sceptri system, from there he'll tell us where we need to go. As you know, only those who have been invited know where the auction is being held". Joe looked at the pad and said "This Daikin guy, is he on the level? I mean, he's not going to turn us all in or anything?". Captain Kaur shook her head and said "No, I've known him since I was a girl; he's very committed to helping the Federation, and us." "OK, well I see no problem in leaving as soon as all them engineers have gone. Did you know that Chel has gone and bagged a date with the Chief Engineer" Joe remarked. Captain Kaur smiled and said "Yes, he does look very pleased with himself. Oh, and please call me Rekha." "Only if you call me Joe" he replied. Captain Kaur smiled and said "Well, I'd better get to my station." Just before she got to the door she stopped, turned around and said, "I'm sorry for invading your ready room, force of habit". As the doors closed Joe replied, "I have a ready room?"

On the bridge Joe's crew were talking about the quarters they had chosen for themselves. "I thought our quarters aboard the Jewel were big, but this one makes it look tiny, and I have to admit, I've never used a sonic shower before, it feels a bit strange without any water" said Aris. "Yeah, it does take some of the fun out of it" said Tex with a wolfish grin. " Texxx!" retorted Aris with her face flushing red. Tex couldn't help but smile at Aris. He then turned to Frank and said, "So Frank, what did you go for?" "I got one of the guest quarters, it has plenty of space for me to start my new weapons collection. I thought about starting with an old phaser rifle, but I found some replicator patterns for something called a TR-116. It's a projectile weapon that fires tritianium bullets. But here's the kicker - the computer says that, if you team it up with a micro transporter and a xerographic targeting sensor, you can shoot at somebody from another room and still hit them." Just then Captain Kaur walked onto the bridge and everybody fell silent. "Please don't stop on my account, what were you talking about?" said the Captain. "Err, well, we were just talking about our quarters" said Cole. "Hmm, I've got a feeling I'm going to miss my quarters, after all it's one of the few places I can go where I don't have to worry about being a starship Captain" Captain Kaur commented. "How does a starship Captain relax?" asked Aris. "Well I paint or draw, but mainly paint. I tried reading by replicating a few books by Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, and Oscar Wilde. But, I'll be honest, I got bored with that, so I went back to painting. My quarters back on the Chimera are covered in paintings or drawings I've done" said the Captain. "What do you paint?" asked Chel. "Anything and everything. I tried my hand at nudes and, although it was easy enough, I didn't find it very fulfilling" the Captain replied.

"All right everybody, it's time we got this show on the road". They all turned around to see Joe standing on the far side of the bridge; everyone got up and went to their stations. "Aris, get the Dock Master and request permission to depart. Chel, bring the engines online." As Joe sat down in the Captain's chair, Aris said "Dock Master has cleared us for departure." Chel called "Engines are online, impulse and warp drive is available." "Good. Tex, take us out, one quarter impulse" Joe ordered. The Banshee turned to face the open space doors and, as it did so the other two ships in the Space Dock, the Tempest, and the Halicarnassus, moved across the screen and the Banshee began to move forward. When the Banshee was free of the dock Captain Kaur said, "I've sent the rendezvous coordinates to the helm." Tex checked the helm and replied "That's confirmed Cap'n. The coordinates for the Epsilon Sceptri system are here." "OK. Then, set a course, warp six as soon as we're clear" said Joe. The Banshee banked right out of the space dock and, when it straightened up, its warp engines lit and it was gone.

It seemed only right that Joe take the Captain's quarters. He had looked around and checked to see if the previous Captain had left anything behind, but he didn't find anything. He could only guess that, if anything had been left behind, it had been taken by the Starfleet personnel who had fixed up his ship and sent on to any living relatives. He felt like he should unpack, but he had nothing to unpack; what he had on was all he had. He was looking at what clothes the replicator had in its memory when the door chime sounded. "Come in" he said. The door opened and in walked Captain Kaur carrying a bottle of something. "Here, this is for you. I thought I'd get you something for your new quarters. I did think of something like a plant, but I thought you'd prefer this instead" she said. "Oh, thanks" Joe responded. He looked at the bottle and Rekha could see that he didn't know what it was, so she said "It's Bajoran Spring wine, there aren't many bottles of it around as our contact with the Bajorans is sporadic these days, but I wanted to say thank you for doing this. You didn't have to - you could have taken the ship and gone on your way and nobody would have thought the worse of you. Why did you decide to help us?" "Well, it wasn't just me, we all took a vote, the outcome being that we decided to help you because having the Federation owe us a favour sounded like a good idea" was Joe's frank response. "I see, that's smart thinking. Even though the Federation is not as influential as it once was it could go a long way to helping someone in your line of work" Rekha replied. "Are you referring to our perfectly legitimate business enterprise?" asked Joe, with a little sarcasm in his voice. "Something like that" Rekha replied with a little smile on her lips. "Well, don't be fooled, there were some who didn't think it was such a good idea. But, don't worry, they know what they have to do, we've got each other's back, including yours" Joe responded. "Thank you, well I best leave you to carry on doing whatever you were doing" said Rekha. "Thanks for the wine. I'm going to leave it here and, when we've finished this mission, we'll use it to celebrate" said Joe. "Sounds good to me, see you in a few hours." As Rekha left his quarters Joe couldn't help but think that it was easy to see why she had risen to become Captain so quickly.

A few hours later Joe was on the bridge along with Rekha, Tex and Aris when Tex called "Coming up on Epsilon Sceptri Cap.". Tex brought the Banshee out of warp just as it crossed into the Epsilon Sceptri system. Joe turned to Rekha and said "OK, we're here, now what?" "I'm transmitting a message to Daikin letting him know that we're here, he should reply any minute now." A few seconds passed then Aris said, "We're being hailed, it's coming from the second planet in this system." "On screen" Joe called. The screen flashed on to show a smiling bolian who's skin was a dark blue, much darker than he'd seen before. "Ahh, you must be Captain Russell. I am Daikin lator. Is Captain Kaur there?" said the person on the view screen. "Hello Daikin, it's been a while" said Rekha as she walked towards the screen. "Rekha, you look even more beautiful every time I see you" said Daikin. "And you look even more handsome" Rekha replied. Daikin laughed and said "I'm sending you my location now. I'm ready to transport whenever you are." "We'll be in transporter range in a minute or two" said Rekha. Daikin bowed his head and the screen went blank. "He seems like a nice enough guy" said Joe. "He is, he was once the bolian ambassador to the federation, even though Bolarus was never a federation member he was very respected among his peers. When the war was over he campaigned for Bolarus to join the federation, become a key member but the government wasn't so keen, they were trying to keep a truce with the Moropa, any shift in militaristic stance would have been bad for both parties. Besides, the federation was not what it once was, frustrated he took early retirement" replied Rekha. "And now he's enjoying his retirement by going to shady auctions that are selling stolen technology" said Frank sarcastically. Rekha didn't say anything, she just stared at him with a deadly look.

"We're in geo synchronous orbit above the location Cap" said Tex. Joe got up from his chair and said, "Well then, we'd better not keep are guest waiting." Joe, Aris and Rekha made their way to the transporter room. Aris worked the transporter controls while the others waited. "I've got a lock, transporting now" said Aris. There was a bright light, then Daikin lator was standing there. He stepped off the transporter pad and walked over to Rekha with his arms wide open and they hugged each other. "It's good to see you again Rekha, it has been far too long" said Daikin warmly. "I've missed you to" Rekha replied. They then both turned to face Joe and Rekha said "Daikin this is Joe Russell, Captain of the Banshee." Joe and Daikin shook hands. As they did so, Joe noticed that Daikin was wearing gloves; he couldn't help but wonder why. "Captain, it is good to meet you, I've been told that you will be joining us, yes?" said Dakin. "Yep, that's right, I hope that's OK?" Joe replied. "Oh, that's perfectly OK Captain. I can see a man like you will have no problem with an assignment such as this" said Daikin warmly. "Thank you" said Joe, looking a bit dumbfounded. "As I understand it, time is of importance so we should be going" said Daikin. As he walked towards the door Rekha said "Daikin, where are we going?" Daikin stopped, thought for a few seconds, then remembered that he hadn't told them where they need to go. "Oh, forgive me, you know I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on. We're going to the Tau Draconis system. There is what was once a luxury holiday resort in orbit of Tau Draconis Two, that's where the auction is being held" said Daikin. Joe went over to the console, tapped a button, and said "Tex, set a course for the Tau Draconis system, warp eight". "Tau Draconis warp eight, got it" came the reply. "Daikin, what has Starfleet told you about our mission?" asked Rekha. "Of course. They believe that this transportation device that Kro is selling could be an Iconian Gateway, and that I'm to help you get in to have a look at it" said Daikin. "Well, that's about the long and short of it" said Joe. "Just out of curiosity, what do you plan to do if it is Iconian?" asked Daikin. "Destroy it" said Rekha. "How?" asked Daikin. "We've brought four kilos of Dicosilium with us" said Rekha. "Four kilo's? That would take out half of the resort" Daikin replied. "We won't be using all of it, just enough to make sure that nobody will be using it if it does turn out to be Iconian" Rekha responded. "You might find it difficult to get that into the auction. As I remember, Kro can be paranoid about such things. I'm sure he'll have security scan for such thing" said Daikin. "Which is why we've got these" said Rekha. She handed him two small and strange looking devices. "What are they?" asked Daikin. "They are used for deceiving scanning devices by making one thing look like something else. They're sub-dermal so they are hard to detect. These come courtesy of Starfleet intelligence" said Rekha. Then Joe said, "Do you know why Kro invited you to this auction?" "The only reason I can think of is because I bought a ship from him once, along with a lot of supplies. Maybe he thought I'd be interested in this auction as well" Daikin replied. "It's a good job for us that he did because if this transporter is Iconian Tech it could have terrible repercussions for us" said Rekha. "Oh, there is one other thing and it's a little bit embarrassing. Kro believes this to be my ship and you my servants" Daikin stated. Rekha and Joe looked at each other then at Daikin. Rekha responded "Your servants? I thought we were to be your aids?" "I'm sorry, but I told Kro you were my servants in order to impress him - and it worked" Daikin said with a shrug.

Frank followed the target as it crossed the room in front of him then, with lightning reflexes, he stretched out his arm and pressed the button on his phaser and hit the target. The computer registered the hit and awarded him five points. Frank smiled to himself and was just waiting for the next target when he heard the door to the holodeck open, he turned around to see Rekha standing there. "We have a few hours to kill before we get to Tau Draconis and I thought I might get in a little target practise. Do you mind if I join you?" asked Rekha. "I practise at level twenty-five" Frank replied. "I guess I could come down a few levels" said Rekha adjusting her phaser. Frank shot her a withering look but Rekha just smiled and took her place next to Frank. "Computer, reset for two players. Begin" said Frank. Two targets flew across the room; both Frank and Rekha hit their targets. Then Rekha said "Do you mind if I ask you something?" "No, what it is?" asked Frank. "Where did you get your name?" Rekha replied. "Is there something wrong with it?" asked Frank as he hit another target. "No, but it is unusual for a Bajoran to have a human name" said Rekha as she fired and hit her target. "Franklin is my full name, it was given to me by my adopted family. The name my birth mother gave me was Horis" said Frank. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were adopted" said Rekha. Frank shrugged his shoulders and said "It's nothing, my mother was part of a small but ultra-religious order. She had an affair with the leader of that order and I was born as a result of it; but she was unable to live with the stigma of being an unmarried mother so I was taken to an orphanage" said Frank matter of factly. He fired at a target but missed; Rekha fired and hit her target then asked, "So you were adopted by a human family?" "When I was four I got up one night after lights out and decided to go and explore the orphanage - I tended to wander back then. I somehow got outside and then became lost. A human couple, who were living on Bajor at the time, found me a returned me to the orphanage. A few days later they came back and adopted me" said Frank. He fired at another target and just hit it; Rekha seemed to hit hers with ease. "So how did you end up with Joe and the rest of them?" asked Rekha. "I was with two other guys that had been paid to find the Captain and his crew to retrieve some merchandise that they had taken. When we found them, the Captain offered me a place on his crew. He told me we'd make good money and that I'd get my own bunk so I wouldn't have to share a room anymore. It was a hell of a lot better than the deal I was getting so I took it. That was a little over three years ago" said Frank. He fired again and missed; Rekha fired and scored a hit. "I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I get the sense that you think that what we're doing now is wrong" said Rekha. "I don't think it's wrong, I just don't see why we should get involved. But the crew took a vote and they voted to help. But just because I voted against helping doesn't mean that I won't" said Frank. He fired again at another target and hit it. Rekha fired and hit hers and the computer announced that Player Two was the winner. Frank turned to Rekha with a look of defeat on his face. Rekha said "Don't feel too bad. I've been playing this target practice game since I was an ensign." Frank just shrugged his shoulders. Rekha took a step towards Frank and said, "Even though you disagreed with everyone else about coming here I really do appreciate you doing this." "Well, what the hell else was I going to do. I'm not very good at sitting around waiting" Frank replied. "Well, I better get going. It won't be long before we arrive at Tau Draconis. Thanks for the practise" said Rekha as she was leaving. When she had left Frank told the computer to rest so he could go again.

"Approaching Tau Draconis" Tex announced and Joe replied, "Take us out of warp." The Banshee dropped out of warp at the edge of the Tau Draconis system and continued in on impulse power. "I have the location of the auction on sensors. Hang on! Detecting something else. It's a ship, it was hiding above the pole of Tau Draconis Four. It's on an intercept course and is hailing us" said Aris. "It's probably a security ship that Kro has hired to keep away any undesirables. You'd best let me speak to them" said Daikin. Everybody took their seats on the bridge with Daikin sitting in the Captain's chair. He then nodded to Aris who put the security ship on the view screen. The face of an Orion male appeared on the screen. "Alien vessel, state your business" said the Orion. "I am Daikin lator. I've been invited by Kro to attend an auction here" said Daikin. "One minute please" said the Orion and the screen went blank. Everybody looked at each other and the same thing ran through everyone's minds - had they been rumbled already. After all, they had turned up in a Federation starship and any smart person would know that the Federation would be interested if this transportation device turned out to be Iconian The Orion appeared on the screen and said "You are cleared to proceed. Transmitting beam down coordinates now" said the Orion. Then the screen switched to show the ship going back to its position above the pole of Tau Draconis Four. Daikin said "Well, that was easy enough" as he relaxed into the chair. "Yes, but the hard part is still to come. If this transportation device is Iconian we've still got to destroy it then get past all of this security" said Rekha. "We're approaching the beam down coordinates Cap" said Tex. "OK, me, Daikin and Rekha will beam down and try and find this device. Then, once the job is done, get ready for a fast getaway" said Joe.

"Daikin, it's good to see you again" said Kro "It's good to see you too Kro, though I must admit I'm a little confused as to why I've been invited to this auction" said Daikin stepping off the transporter pad. "Last time we did business together you spent a great deal of money and I was hoping you would do the same again, hahaha. But I see you've got yourself another ship - an old Federation ship if I'm not mistaken" said Kro. "Yes, I won it in a human game called poker" Daikin replied. "Did the human's come with it?" asked Kro eyeing up Joe and Rekha. "Ah no, they are indentured to me, they're part of the crew that run the ship" said Daikin. "Well I can see why you are partial to women of different species" said Kro getting closer and closer to Rekha. "Ah ah, be careful Kro, she's my favourite" said Daikin. "But of course, I would never…. forgive me. Please, let me show you to your quarters" said Kro. "Quarters? But I thought I was coming to an auction?" said Daikin a little indignantly. "You have, but the auction isn't due to start until this evening. Until then you're welcome to enjoy all that this place has to offer - and I've gone to a great deal of expense to make sure there's plenty on offer" said Kro with a smirk. As Daikin walked into his quarters Kro said "This has one of the best views of the whole resort where you can see the planet below" said Kro. As Daikin looked out of the window Kro said "You can stay in your quarters until the auction if you like, but it would be a shame not to partake of the entertainment I have laid on." Daikin turned to Kro and asked, "How many other bidders are there?" "There are seven bidders including you" said Kro. "Anyone I know?" asked Daikin. "I'm afraid I do not know. You have done so much, met so many, it is possible that there is somebody here that you know" said Kro. "This transportation device, it'd better not be a simple transporter, my ship has plenty of them" said Daikin. "This is much more than just a simple transporter. Imagine that, with just a few steps, you can go from here to Risa or any planet you can think of" Kro replied. "Will we get to see this device in action?" asked Daikin. "Are you asking for a demonstration?" Kro replied "I am. Before we start bidding, how about you use the device and send somebody to the floating temple on Diadem Two and bring back a piece of the armour of Vagho. Then we'll know that it works as advertised" said Daikin "That should not be a problem. Well, I shall leave you to get settled in" said Kro.

When Kro had left Joe was about to say something when Daikin raised his hand to stop him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device that looked like a small tricorder; the light on it flashed telling Daikin that it was working. "Now you can speak. My guess is that Kro has got all kinds of sensors and scanners recording everything we say and do. This will block all of that. Now, what were you going to say?" asked Daikin. "What's the floating temple on…..what was it?" asked Joe. "Diadem Two. It's a temple built by the Klingons to honour one of their greatest heroes, Vagho. Legend has it that, just over a hundred years ago, he and few hundred warriors held off an army of thousands. You see, the Klingons conquered Diadem Two but, a few years after, the natives rose up and marched to the overseer's headquarters that the Klingons had there. Vagho, who was widely revered at that time and a general in charge of the garrison there, knew that it would be sometime before reinforcements could get to them. So, they would have to hold out until they arrived. They put up a valiant fight, but the headquarters was destroyed by the natives and, when the Klingon reinforcements arrived, they found everyone dead. They then went mad and swore revenge killing all but a tiny per cent of the natives. Those they did not kill became slaves and were made to build the temple on a huge floating rock. Don't ask me how it floats, it just does. They put Vaghos remains in the temple. It's said that nobody has made it to the temple and lived because it is far too treacherous to be made by shuttle. Natural minerals in the rock of which the temple was built will prevent anybody beaming in or beaming anything out. It's thought to be one of the most naturally defended places known. Plus. the Diadem system is many weeks travel by ship" said Daikin. "But, if nobody has managed to get to this temple, how are we supposed to know if whoever he sends brings back a real piece of this armour or not?" asked Joe. "I have seen many depictions of the battle of Diadem. I even saw one of Vagho in his armour. I'm confident I'll be able to tell a piece of his armour from a fake" said Daikin. "Well, in any case it's worked out good for us. We can use this time to find out where this device is being kept and work out what to do" said Rekha. "I've got a feeling that Kro isn't the type of person that'll let people walk around unsupervised. I'd say he's got this place as secure as a bank" said Joe. "I'm not so sure about that. Having a security system like that installed in here just for this one auction would be expensive and, like all Ferengi, when it comes to money Kro doesn't like spending any more than he needs to. My guess is that he's relying on the security he's hired to keep an eye on everyone and, if that is the case, it would be just a simple matter of sneaking past them to find this device" said Daikin. "That maybe easier said than done. We don't know how many guards there are" said Joe. "I have supreme confidence in your abilities" Daikin replied warmly.

It was a few hours later that Joe and Rekha set off to try find the transportation device that Kro was selling. A few covert scans by Tex back on the Banshee revealed that there was a strange energy source coming from the main shuttle bay of the complex and they agreed that they would start their search there. Both Joe and Rekha moved quickly and silently. Daikin had been right, Kro was relying on the security he had hired to keep an eye on things. They managed to dodge a few security patrols, but they were getting more frequent the closer they got. Fortunately, they managed to keep out of sight. As they got into the shuttle bay they found it empty except for a huge archway standing right in the centre of the bay. "I don't like this, it's too easy. Where are the guards?" Joe commented. "Maybe Kro couldn't afford anymore guards" Rekha replied. She then looked at Joe and said "Anyway, half of everything is luck, right?" They sprinted over to the arch and Rekha started to examine it. "Oh yeah, this is Iconian Tech alright. I wonder where Kro got his hands on this? Hand me the charges will you" said Rekha. Joe was keeping a lookout for any guards as he handed her the charges. "How are you going to set these off?" asked Joe. "They have a chemical timer which should give us fifteen minutes to get out of here. As soon as they're set we should go and find Daikin" said Rekha. She put two charges on the arch, and two at either side of the base, then said "OK, charges are in place and the timers are set, we should go." They started to make their way back to their quarters and they got about half way there when they heard some of Kro's security approaching. They looked back down the corridor that they had just walked down, but there was no place for them to go, and if they turned and ran the guards would see them and chase them. Joe turned to face Rekha and said, "I'm going to apologise for this in advance." Before Rekha could ask him what he was apologising for he took her in his arms and kissed her; although this took her by surprise at first, she realised what he was doing and played along. The guards came around the corner and saw Joe and Rekha in an embrace and kissing. One of the guards said something to the other one, which caused him laugh. When they had seen enough they walked on. Joe looked up and watched as the guards disappeared and said "OK, they're gone, we can go now." "An ingenious way of avoiding capture, you really threw yourself into it" Rekha commented with a smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about, I was just trying to stop us getting caught. Come on, let's go" said Joe.

"Daikin we've got to go" said Rekha as she walked into his quarters, but he wasn't there. "Where the hell is he?" said Rekha a little irritated. "He could be anywhere. Where do you think he might be?" queried Joe. "If I know Daikin he'd be trying to get to know the other bidders so he knows who he's up against" Rekha replied. "In that case he's probably in the bar or at the casino, we should look there" said Joe. "That's a good idea, but your friend has been arrested for assisting a Federation spy" said a strange voice. Both Joe and Rekha turned around to see who it was speaking, which caused Rekha to gasp. "Hello Rekha. Miss me?" said the strange man who was flanked by a number of security guards. Recovering quickly Rekha replied "Not really. But I did wonder what had happened to you after you fled." "You know him?" said Joe. "I afraid so, his name is Trent Corwin, former head of Starfleet security. That was until one day he just upped and left. It took us a while to find out why; eventually we found out that he had been selling Federation equipment - phaser rifles, personal shields, photon torpedo's, to anyone who would pay. Being the former head of security, he easily covered it up until one of our torpedoes was found on Mintaka Two when the authorities there raided a suspected terrorist compound. That triggered an investigation and, being the head of security, it was his job to investigate. But his own arrogance was his undoing. His reports didn't add up so another investigation was started and that's when we found out that he had been selling weapons. But when they went to arrest him he had gone. For six months he gave us the run around but we tracked him to the Regulus system. Unknown to us, that's also where he had his base of operations. When we moved in we found a large quantity of weapons but no Trent" said Rekha. Trent had been happy to let Rekha explain his background to Joe, but then said, rather pointedly "I wonder if Starfleet would have let you be in charge of that raid had they known about us!" Rekha remained silent and just stared at Trent, who then said "Well, it doesn't matter. That's in the past. What matters is now. I should have guessed that the Federation would have shown some interest when an Iconian Gateway came up for auction. But imagine my surprise when I found out that they had sent you." "You know it's Iconian?" queried Rekha. "Of course I do" Trent replied. "Who do you think told Kro where to find it; who do you think showed him how to operate it" Trent continued. "But if you knew where it was, why not keep it?" asked Joe. "Because it was buried in an old Iconian outpost deep inside Klingon space. It had been dormant for two hundred thousand years and the outpost was nothing more than just ruins. I didn't have the expertise nor the money to dig it up" said Trent. "So that's when you persuaded Kro to fund in a little archaeological dig. Then the both of you sell it and make a tidy profit" said Joe. "Your half right" Trent replied. "Half right?" Joe queried. "No, not even you would do something like that" said Rekha. "Do what?" said Joe "He wants to contact the Iconians" Rekha replied. "Ah ha, there you go, now I see why they made you a Captain" said Trent in mock surprise. "But why? You know what happened the last time, we were taught it at the Academy - it's a part of our history" said Rekha. "You want to know why - it's because Starfleet didn't learn a thing. You'd of thought that, after the Borg, the Dominion, and the Klingons, they would've learnt to take things more seriously. But they didn't. Then the Iconians came along and look what happened. Then, after we get to New Earth and start to rebuild, what does Starfleet do - gets right back on top of its moral high horse and pick up from where it left off. Even when I became Head of Security and I told them that we needed to be better prepared against others that might take advantage of our weakened state, they dismissed everything I said. All the proposals I suggested were rejected. I saw what was happening and it made me sick. So, I began to make plans for my future" said Trent. "By selling weapons? If it bothered you that much why not just resign" Rekha replied. "Because I didn't have anything. I once thought that Starfleet would be all I needed, but you see that didn't work out. And, thanks to your raid on my compound, you left me with hardly anything. I had to start from scratch" Trent retorted. "I get it. You see the Federation as a bunch of hypocrites who talk tough but won't back it up with action" Rekha said defiantly. "Bingo, you move to the top of the class. Now, if you'll just like to follow these gentlemen, they have a nice holding cell waiting for you" said Trent smiling sarcastically. The security men checked them for weapons; they found Joe's phaser and took it then, just as they were being led away, Trent turned to two of his security entourage and said "You two stay here and tear this room apart. Look for weapons, explosives, anything that shouldn't be there." The two men nodded and set about their search. As Joe and Rekha were being led away Joe whispered, "Times almost up." Rekha nodded and whispered "Get ready." Joe was wondering what she meant when Rekha suddenly cried out in pain "Oww my leg" and stopped dead. The guard behind her was a little unsure what to do; she took advantage of his hesitation, spun around, and jabbed two fingers in his eyes leaving him blinded and in pain. He lashed out blindly but missing Rekha and hitting Trent, who was following behind, and he fell to the floor. Joe reacted a split second later catching the second guard with a haymaker and knocking him to the floor. Rekha managed to get hold of Joe's phaser and, with both guards distracted, aimed it at Trent and fired. But Trent was fast and he managed to dodge the phaser fire and move to take cover. The blinded guard was starting to recover, so Rekha finished him off with a kick to the chest which slammed him against the wall knocking him out. Joe saw the other guard get up and come running towards them. In one big sweeping motion Joe took the legs from the guard and sent him crashing to the floor; he then finished him with a punch to the forehead which knocked him out. The next thing Joe saw was a streak of phaser fire come within inches of his face. He quickly turned to see Rekha return fire and hit Trent on the shoulder causing him fall to the floor and lose his phaser; but he then got back up and sprinted away. "He's going for the Gateway. You get Daikin, I'll stop Trent" Rekha shouted. Joe got out his comm badge and said "Tex can you hear me?" "Roger that, we hear you, is I everything OK?" Tex replied. Joe was glad to hear his voice and said "I need you find where Daikin is. Do a scan of the complex, will you?" A few seconds later Tex's voice came over the comm badge to say "We've got him. He's two levels down directly below you. Looks like he's in a holding cell" said Tex."Are you able to beam him out?" asked Joe. "Negative, there's something blocking our transporter beam, you'll need to shut that off if we're to get him out" Tex replied. Joe looked around and saw a turbo lift. He picked up Trent's discarded phaser and then said "Is everything OK up there?" The next voice he heard was Aris to say "That security ship has taken up position behind us and has powered up its weapons, but has not locked them on us. I take it things are not going well?" Joe pressed the button for the lift and said "You could say that. We were met by an old friend of Rekha, so we're going to Plan B. I'll contact you again in a minute." Tex looked at Aris in surprise and said, "We have a plan B?" Aris shrugged saying "I don't have a clue."

As Joe stepped off the turbo lift he knew that there was no need for stealthy approach anymore, so as soon he saw the guard at the door to the security office he opened fire. The guard never knew what hit him. The guard inside the office was a bit more alert, but was quickly subdued. Joe found Daikin in the holding cell; he took aim at the controls and fired. The force field holding Daikin disappeared. He looked at Joe and said, "I'm guessing that things are not going according to plan?" "You could say that. Do you know a guy by the name of Trent Corwin?" asked Joe. "Trent Corwin? Yes, Rekha was involved with him before they found out that he was selling weapons. Why, is he here?" asked Daikin. "Yeah, he's the one that found us. I think he's Kro's head of security. But, here's the kicker, we think he's trying to bring back the Iconians from where ever they are so they can finish what they started forty years ago" said Joe. "Oh, this is very bad. Trent Corwin is a very dangerous man. We must stop him" said Daikin. "Rekha has gone after him. She thinks he's going for that Gateway" said Joe. "Well, what are we standing around here for, let's go" said Daikin. "Not so fast. You're going back to the ship" said Joe bluntly. He then got out his comm badge and said "Tex can you hear me?" Tex's voice came back "Loud and clear. That interference has cleared up, we can transport you out of there now." "Good, get a lock on Daikin and beam him up now" Joe commanded. As Daikin was being transported all he managed to say was "Now wait just a minute" before he was gone. Joe didn't waste any time and he took off for the shuttle bay as fast as he could. As he was approaching the shuttle bay the first thing he heard was a strange sound that he'd never heard before. Then, when he got into the bay he saw that the gate was active, seeing next that Trent and Rekha were fighting each other. Trent was more powerful than Rekha, but her skill was proving a match for Trent. Joe wasn't sure what to do; should he open fire and risk hitting Rekha or should he get stuck into the fight as well? Just he was deciding, Trent got in a lucky hit that sent Rekha to the floor. Trent then turned and ran towards the Gateway. Joe took aim and fired but missed and Trent disappeared through the Gateway. Rekha got up and ran towards the Gateway and Joe could only watch as Rekha disappeared though the Gateway as well. Joe started to run towards the Gateway, but only got a few steps before the charges they had set earlier detonated and the explosion flung Joe backwards towards the corridor outside the shuttle bay. Then, as soon as he landed, he felt himself being sucked forwards as all the air rushed out into space through a breech in the wall of the shuttle bay that had been caused by the explosion. Half concussed and operating on instinct, he reached for something to get hold of only to find nothing. But, as luck would have it, the emergency bulkhead door slammed down sealing off the shuttle bay and saving Joe's life. Joe tapped his comm badge and said "Tex, can you hear me?" "We can hear you cap, what the hell happened?" Tex replied worriedly. "The charges we put on the Gateway went off. Damn well knocked me across the room" Joe answered. "Well, that Gateway must have been sitting on or near a power conduit because the explosion has knocked the complex out of orbit. It's heading off into space and all the ships here are scrambling, trying to get their people off" said Tex. "Can you beam me up?" asked Joe earnestly. "Negative, there are so many plasma leaks that it's causing havoc with the targeting sensors. You need to get to the far end of the complex, we should be able to transport you out from there" said Tex. Joe made his way to the far end of the complex as quickly as he could dodging all the plasma leaks and any debris. When he got there, he tapped his comm badge again and said "OK, I'm at the far end and ready to transport." "Joe, we still can't get you out. There's still too much interference" said Aris. Joe looked around in despair and said, "There's nowhere else for me to go." "Joe, there's only one thing that I can think of. You need to get clear of the complex" said Aris. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. You're not saying what I think your saying - right?" queried Joe very concerned. "I'm afraid so. Is there an airlock close by?" asked Aris. "Isn't there another way?" said Joe even more worried. "I'm afraid not. You'll only be exposed for about two to three seconds" said Aris confidently. Joe replied, "Are you sure about this - I mean really really sure?" "We have no other way of getting to you. We'll transport you straight to sick bay where the Doc is ready and waiting" Aris replied. Joe had seen an air lock and walked up to it and got in. "I can't believe I'm going to do this" he said to himself and took in a couple of deep breaths to oxygenate his blood. "Are you guys ready?" he said into the comm badge. "Ready when you are" Aris replied. Joe took one last deep breath and hit the door controls. The airlock doors quickly opened and Joe was sucked into space. On the Banshee Frank was at the transporter controls. "There, there he is, locked on, we've got him" said Frank triumphantly. "Come about, and take us out of here" Aris commended. "Gladly" Tex replied. He turned the Banshee hard left and engaged full impulse power. Frank, Daikin, and Aris walked into sickbay to see how Joe was, they saw Cole was working on him and Frank said, "How is he Doc?" "He's going to be OK. His exposure was brief so treating him is no problem. I've given him a special little something that'll raise his temperature so he won't feel so cold too much. He'll be up an around in a few hours" said Cole. "Can we speak to him?" asked Aris. "Sure, but keep it brief" Cole replied. As they approached Joe Daikin said "Captain, what happened back there?" "Sh-sh-sh-she couldn't s-s-stop him, he went through the-the-the Gateway and she w-w-w-w-went after him" Joe replied hesitantly. "She went through the Gateway?" queried Daikin worriedly. Joe nodded his head. Daikin said "This is not good. That means she could be anywhere and we have no way of knowing where."

CHAPTER FOUR

"I am sorry Captain but there is nothing we can do. As soon as Captain Kaur stepped through the Gateway she will have ended up anywhere in any system, and I cannot authorise a search and rescue mission when we don't know where to look. I'm afraid for the time being, until we hear from Captain Kaur, all we can do is to wait" said Admiral T'paar. Joe was frustrated; he got up from his chair, walked over to the window of the Admiral's office and said "It's not right. We should be out there now looking for her." "I share your frustration, Captain Kaur is a good friend and a good officer, her crew are also feeling her loss. But, in situations like this, we must think logically. We have no idea where she is and we have limited resources. To waste these resources on what would be nothing more than guess work would be foolish" Admiral T'paar replied. Joe wanted to say that she was wrong and that the whole fleet should be out there now looking for her but he knew she was right. He turned to the Admiral and said "So now what? We go our separate ways and pretend that none of this happened?" "For the most part – yes. You have upheld your end of our agreement; you and your crew can go back to your normal lives. We, in the meantime, will keep an eye and ear out for the Captain. Starfleet intelligence has just picked up Kro and are on their way back now. We will question him to find out what he knows about the Gateway. We shall also tell our starship Captains to be vigilant for any information about Captain Kaur's whereabouts, and we shall also ask our allies to do the same" said Admiral T'paar. "Will you let me know if you find her?" asked Joe. "Of course. Live long and prosper Captain" said Admiral T'paar genially.

As Joe walked out of the Admiral's office he was greeted by the rest of his crew. "So, are we going to rescue her?" asked Frank. "We can't, they don't know where she is" Joe replied. "So, what happens now?" asked Aris. "We go back to what we were doing before" Joe answered. "But, what about Captain Kaur? Are they going to do anything?" asked Cole. "There's not much they can do. They'll tell all their Captains to keep their eyes and ears peeled and ask their allies to do the same. But that's all they can do until she gets in contact - if she gets in contact" Joe resignedly. A feeling of hopelessness went around them all. Even though she had only been on board for a short time, they couldn't help but feel responsible for what happened to Captain Kaur. Finally, Joe broke the mood saying "Come on, it's no good us standing here and moping. These guys can do a lot more for her than we can, let's get going. I'll see what I can do about getting us some work." As they headed back to the Banshee Joe couldn't help but think the Admiral was making a mistake, even though he knew she was right, he just hoped that Rekha was all right wherever she was.

A week had passed since Captain Kaur had gone through the Gateway. Joe had had no problem in finding work for his crew; most of it involved hauling cargo ranging from machine parts to a few things on the illegal side, nothing great but it was money in their pockets. Joe decided to look for work at the Poxu station above Omega Canum Three. When he and Frank were on their way to the station's bar to meet their contact, Joe stopped and said, "Do you hear that?" Both Joe and Frank stopped, but struggled to listen over the hustle and bustle of the station. "I don't hear nothing" said Frank. Joe listened for a few more seconds. "I think somebody is calling my name" he said and started to look around. "You sure you're not hearing things?" said Frank. Just then Joe spotted a familiar person running towards them. "DAIKIN?" said a surprised Joe. Daikin came running up to them and, in between gasps, said "Captain, I'm glad I've caught you, you're a hard man to track down you know." "Daikin, what are you doing here?" asked Joe earnestly. "Why, I'm looking for you of course. I saw her, I saw Rekha, and I think I might know where she is" said Daikin. "You saw Rekha. How?" asked Joe incredulously. "I was at home, a few days ago, and I was just getting ready to go to bed when a portal opened up in the middle of my bedroom. For a few seconds I wondered what was happening, then I saw Rekha. It looked like she was trying to come through. Well, I was stunned. She called my name and she threw something at me before going back through the portal like she had been pulled by someone or something. This is what she threw" said Daikin. He handed Joe a strange looking blue bag and Frank said, "What the hell is that thing?" "It's a bio neural transfer conduit. I know that because I have seen them before on Federation ships. I went to Admiral T'paar with this and they were able to track it back to a Federation shuttle that was assigned to Starfleet headquarters at the time the Federation was at war with the Iconians. I believe Rekha knew that we would find out where this came from so that we knew where she is" said Daikin. "So, they're going to get her then - right?" queried Joe. "Admiral T'paar said that she'll send a ship to investigate. But their nearest ship is over a week away and by then it might be too late" Daikin replied. "Wait a minute - are you asking us to go and get her?" asked Joe. "I thought that you would be willing to help considering what you did last time" Daikin replied. Joe looked at Frank who shrugged his shoulders. Then Daikin said, "I'll pay you." "How much?" said Frank. "Fifty bars of Latinum" said Daikin. "Done!" said Frank. "Hey, hold on a minute" said Joe. "Come on Cap, it's fifty bars" said Frank excitedly. "Captain please. I've known Rekha for a very long time. Let me hire your ship and crew to go see if she is indeed on Earth and rescue her if possible" said Daikin.

It was all quiet on the Banshee: in the engine room Chel was keeping an eye on the warp core from one of the various consoles; in the sickbay Cole was checking over all his equipment; on the bridge Tex was at the helm making minor corrections to their course; Frank was at the tactical station doing a weapons diagnostic check on the phasers and shields; while, in the ready room Joe, Aris and Daikin were talking about what they might find when they got to Earth. "I don't like it, there's a lot of unknowns. She might not even be there anymore. We could be taking a big risk for nothing" said Aris. "But, that is why we have to go there to be sure" said Daikin. "I done a check to see if Starfleet sent any ships back to earth after the war and they did send a ship, the Leopold, back to earth a couple of months after the war finished. They reported that the planet was surrounded by a thick layer of ash in the atmosphere. They managed to get a landing party onto the surface using a shuttle, but the landing party didn't find anybody" said Joe. "Also, don't forget, this report is forty years old. That layer of ash will most probably have settled by now and, just because the Leopold's landing party didn't find any survivors, that doesn't mean to say that there weren't any" said Daikin. "And Starfleet hasn't been back there since?" asked Joe. Daikin shook his head and said "No, not to my knowledge." "Well, since we're doing this I suggest that we start at Starfleet headquarters. That is where the shuttle that this gel pack came from was assigned to" said Aris.

The Banshee came out of warp at the edge of the sol system. Everyone was on the bridge. Nobody had been here before except for Daikin. Joe turned and looked at him as he stared at the view screen. He could see by the look on his face that he was reliving some old memories from his time there, but he couldn't tell if they were good or bad. "Picking up a large debris field directly ahead" said Tex. "It's the fleet. This is where they made their last stand" said Daikin. "Slow down to half impulse Tex, take us through nice and easy" said Joe. As the Banshee made her way through the debris field, nobody said anything. Sounds that were never normally heard sounded so loud. Then Aris said, "I can't believe the amount of destroyed ships that are here." Daikin replied "Starfleet met the Iconians with every ship it could muster. Even those that were being repaired at the time were sent out to hold the line against the Iconians. Over a hundred ships met them, everything from shuttles to fighters to cruisers. If it was armed it was here, and their remains still are still as well. It is now a memorial to all of those that died here." The Banshee flew out of the debris field and on towards Earth. On the bridge the image of earth appeared on the view screen. "Looks like you were right Daikin, that layer of ash seems to have settled now" Joe observed. "I'm detecting life signs on the surface" said Frank. "So, some did survive the bombardment?" said Daikin. "How many are you picking up?" asked Joe. "There's a few dormant satellites in orbit. I'm up linking with some of them now so we can scan the whole planet. Hold on, according to this there are just over thirty-seven thousand life signs planet wide, but there may be more where we can't scan" said Frank. "Thirty-seven thousand? This used to be a planet of billions" said Daikin, the bitterness evident in his voice. "Can you locate Rekha?" asked Joe. "Sorry Cap, sensors can't seem find her" Frank replied. "Can we transport down?" asked Joe. "Can do Cap, just tell us where" said Tex. "OK, take us into orbit" said Joe. Tex punched in the commands on his console and, within a short while, brought the Banshee into orbit. "We're in orbit Cap" said Tex. "Alright. Myself, Aris, Frank, Cole, and Daikin will go to the surface. Tex, you and Chel stay here and be ready. We may need to get out of there quick" said Joe. "I have the remains of Starfleet headquarters on the sensors in the San Francisco Bay area - no life signs though" said Aris. "We'll start our search there" said Joe.

During his time Joe had been too many places that once had a grand splendour about them: the crystalline city of Z'ohral, and the old industrial complex on Zalki Prime to name a few. As he looked around he could tell that this place once had the same kind of splendour - but not anymore. The place was pock marked with impact craters; buildings that were once as tall as any other he'd seen had toppled over after succumbing to the damage done to them by the bombardment. He looked down at all the ash that had settled on the ground, some of it was a couple of meters thick in places. He could smell something on the wind, a very particular smell of something having been burnt. And for him to smell it after all these years told him that this world had been in flames. He heard Daikin sigh and said, "Are you alright Daikin?" "The last time I was here was two months prior to the attack. I was visiting a friend of mine in the Diplomatic Corps. I remember him telling me just how bad the war with the Iconians was." He then turned to face Joe and said "Up until the Dominion war Earth had never been attacked, even the Klingons never dared attack Earth. But, when the Breen attacked, it showed just how vulnerable Earth was despite the Breen losing most of their ships. It was a vulnerability they thought they had fixed - that was until the Iconians showed up" said Daikin. "So, these Iconians - they're a big deal then?" asked Frank. "Yes" Daikin replied "A very big deal. Legend has it they were among the first species to live and to travel to distant worlds that are beyond us even today." "So, what's with all this. Why attack the Federation?" Frank responded. "The Iconians wanted back everything that was theirs before they were destroyed. They tried to pit other races against each other, to weaken them, so it would be easier to conquer them. But when that failed they were left with little choice but to attack, and the Federation was a prime target" said Daikin. At this point Joe intervened. "I hate to break up this little history lesson, but we should get moving." Daikin quickly responded a little embarrassed. "The shuttle bay is this way." When they got to the shuttle bay in the shattered Starfleet headquarters they found it to be in a mess. A part of the roof had caved in, one shuttle was on its side and two more looked like they had been hit during the bombardment. There were also signs of fire damage. However, apart from there being a lot of dirt on the hull, there was one shuttle in the far corner of the bay that looked OK. They walked around to the back of the shuttle to find it open and Daikin saw a cover hatch lying on the floor next to some exposed circuitry. "I think our conduit came from this shuttle" said Daikin. "So, she was here" Joe, half statement, half question. "Yes, but real the question is where is she now" said Daikin. "Cap, over here" Frank called. Both Joe and Daikin walked over to where Frank was standing; Joe spoke. "What you got Frank?" "Tracks, see how small the footprint is?" said Frank. They all crouched down and Frank pointed out a small footprint in the dirt. "Can you see it there? See how it also leads away from the shuttle. And that stride pattern is wide. My guess that she was running" Frank stated. "Why would she be running? She must have been followed" said Joe. "I think so, there's also another set of tracks just over there. They're bigger and more defined - clearly made by a man. But the footprints are closer together indicating that he was just walking. My guess is that Rekha came in here, grabbed that gel pack, then ran out this way. Then somebody came through here tracking her footprints" said Frank pointing at the footprints. Joe looked at Frank and said, "Do you think you could track her footprints?" "I think so" Frank replied. "Alright, you lead we'll follow" said Joe. Frank tracked the footprints out of the shuttle bay, out of the building, across the campus into another smashed building and out the other side. Then Frank stopped and said "Cap, the direction these footprints are going would suggest that she's heading off into the streets and, if that's the case, she'll be more difficult to track". "Just do the best you can and we'll cross that bridge when we get to it" Joe replied. Frank was right, the tracks led out of Starfleet and into the streets beyond. It wasn't long before Frank lost the tracks. "Sorry Cap, but the tracks are gone – indistinguishable. I can't tell which way she went, there's been a lot of people come through here." "So now what?" queried Cole. Joe tapped his comm badge. "Banshee this is Joe. Can you hear us?" asked Joe. "We hear you, go ahead" Tex replied. "Can you do a scan of the area around us and tell us what you see?" said Joe. "Checking now." There was a pause. "I've got some life signs two point six miles away from you. I'm sending the coordinates to your tricorders now" said Tex. "How many life signs are there?" asked Joe. "I'm seeing - err - fifteen down there" Tex responded. "These coordinates are just over two miles inland" Aris cut in. Joe looked at everybody and said, "Unless anybody has any better ideas I say we should try there." When nobody said anything, they started off with Joe saying "Tex we're going to make our way to these coordinates we'll contact you if we find anything."

"We're here, these are the coordinates Cap" said Frank. Joe looked around him; the coordinates they had been given had taken them to a residential area of the city. The place had been devastated by the attack, but there were a few buildings that were still standing. "Are you picking up any life signs?" asked Joe. Frank made some adjustments on his tricorder. "Yes, about two hundred yards away - in that building I think" he replied raising his arm to point. The building in question had three floors and, something that neither Joe or any of them had never seen before, was that was that the entire front of the house, the roof and the fire escape had been painted pink. "Now who in the hell would want to paint the front of their house pink?" said Frank. "Somebody very interesting I think" Daikin replied. Joe looked up and, on the top floor, saw the face of a child at the window for a fleeting second before it vanished back into the room. "There's definitely somebody in there" said Joe. "You saw someone in there?" asked Aris. "Yeah, on the top floor" Joe replied. "I guess we'd better knock then" said Daikin. Just as they were about to walk up to the door it flew open and a woman came out holding a phaser rifle. "You guys will want to turn around and walk away" said the woman defiantly. Putting his hands in the air Joe said "We're not looking for trouble. We're just here looking for somebody." "There isn't anybody here but me" said the woman still pointing the rifle. "Well, that's not quite true is it, I saw a little face looking at me from the top floor just before you came out with that cannon" Joe said quietly. "You can forget about taking him. You take another step and I fire" the woman replied even more defiantly. "Hang on, it's not him we're interested in, we're looking for a human woman, her name is Rekha and she might have come through here about a week ago" said Joe. The woman paused, lowered her phaser a little and looked at Cole's med kit slung over his shoulder. "Is he a doctor?" she asked looking at Cole. "Yes. Yes, I'm a doctor" Cole replied. The woman lowered her phaser to her side and walked towards them. "I know Rekha but, before I answer any questions, I want you to do something for me" said the woman. "What's that?" asked Joe. "Come in and I'll show you" the woman replied and turned towards the house. They all walked into the house and up to the first floor. There they saw that the whole floor had been turned into what looked like a hospital ward, people had been crammed in with some laying prone on the floor and some sat upright. "What's wrong with these people?" asked Cole. "They have Sakuro's disease. We've been treating them, but the most we can do is make them comfortable. If you could help us in anyway…." said the woman, her voice trailing into a plea. "You said they have Sakuro's?" said Cole. "Yes, I believe so, but without any proper equipment it can be hard to make a diagnosis let alone treat them" the woman replied. Joe cut in."Can you help them Doc?" "Yes, I think so. Sakuro's can be treated in a few days with the proper medication, but it's very rare these days. I'm surprised to see it at all. I'll speak with Tex about replicating some antigens" said Cole confidently. As Cole left to talk with Tex back on the ship, Joe said to the women "You said you knew Rekha?" "Yes, come down stairs and I'll tell you about her" the woman replied. They walked into a large room at the front of the house; the woman sat down in a chair and motioned them to sit down as well. "I first met Rekha about a week ago at the market, about half a mile from here. I was getting the weekly shopping when out of the corner of my eye I saw her stumbling through the crowd. I could tell that she was hurt so I went up to her. But, just as I got to her, she collapsed and lost consciousness. Myself and a friend brought her here. When I examined her, I could see that she had been beaten, like she had been in a fight and lost. She had a broken nose, two broken ribs, numerous cuts and bruises and a nasty concussion. We treated her and she regained consciousness two days later. When she did, one of the volunteers I have working here came and got me. Rekha asked me what had happened, so I told her where she was, where she'd been found and what had happened to her. When I asked her what she could remember she said that she was tracking a man called Trent and that she had tracked him to the old Federation archive. She didn't know what he was looking for but she tried to stop him, that's all she could remember. She went on to recover enough to get about but, before she left, she said that she was going back to the archive to see what this Trent was looking for. That was two days ago." "The Federation archive, where is that?" asked Aris. "I wish I could help you but I don't know" the woman replied. "The Federation has two archives; one they keep at headquarters for general use the other is located away from headquarters underground somewhere - it's for special items" said Daikin. Just then Cole came in to the room. "Well, I've got good news, we have a Sakuro's antigen and we can distribute it whenever you're ready. And I have to say that I'm confident of a good outcome. But we will have to stay for a while so I can monitor their progress" said Cole. "Well, it looks like you're going to have us around a while longer. Err, I didn't catch you name?" said Joe. "My name is Janet, Janet Frasier and, don't worry, I can always use extra volunteers" said the woman.

They had stayed up through the night helping to care for all the sick people and now the sun was coming up over the horizon. Joe was standing at a window looking out at the Bay Bridge and he was thinking about how he and his crew had ended up here and how much further they would have to go. "It looks like things are looking good now, everybody is responding well to the treatment" said Cole as he walked into the room. "Does that mean we can leave now?" asked Joe. "I think Dr Frasier and her volunteers can take it from here" Cole replied. "Good, we need to get back after Rekha" said Joe. Joe tapped his comm badge, "Tex, you there?" called Joe. "I hear you Cap" Tex replied. "Did you find that information I asked you to look up?" queried Joe. "It took some digging, but we did find some information on the archive. Daikin was right, there are two archives, but the one we think Captain Kaur is going to is the one that housed all the special and top-secret items - like alien technology discovered on away missions, that kind of thing. Any alien tech was taken there, studied and stored" said Tex. "Does it say anything about getting into the place. I mean, could we transport into it?" asked Joe. "I don't think so because its two miles underground and I wouldn't want to try and transport through all that rock. But we did find that access was via a mono rail system which ran from a restricted area of Starfleet headquarters. But, since that's not going to be working, we did find an emergency access and exit shaft that the builders had put in just in case anything happened" Tex responded. "Where is this access shaft?" asked Joe. "It's at the old fog signal building under the Bridge" said Tex. "Good work Tex, how are you and Chel holding up?" said Joe warmly. "We're doing OK. I found out that Chel can't play poker to save his life. We had a few friendly games with a few friendly wagers and he lost. Just when I thought he was going to call it a night that old Tellarite stubbornness got the better of him and he kept on wanting to play. Even when I tried to lose I won. In the end it got to where he owed me almost two thousand strips of latinum. I had to tell him I was too tired to carry on just so he would stop" said Tex. "I hope you two are still on speaking terms" said Joe. "I think so. About five minutes ago he handed me an IOU, then went to the engine room to sulk" said Tex. Smiling to himself Joe said, "Standby to transport us to that access shaft." "Standing by" Tex replied. Joe then turned to Cole and said, "You go and wake everybody up and I'll tell the Doc we're leaving."

Joe went into a room at the back of the house on the ground floor and found Dr Frasier asleep on a couch at the far end of the room. Joe shook her gently on the shoulder; the Doctor opened her eyes rising up and said worryingly "What's wrong, is everything OK?" "Everything's fine, I've just been told that the patients are responding to the treatment and I just wanted to tell you that we're leaving now" said Joe gently. "You're going to that archive to find your friend?" asked the Doctor. Joe nodded his head and said "Yes, it's important that we find her, and the archive is the only lead we've got" said Joe. Back in the other room the others were waking up and Frank was telling the others what had happened to him last night. "Remind me never to have kids because, after last night, I don't want any" said Frank. "Why, what happened?" asked Aris. "I was helping look after this woman's baby while she was being seen to by one of the volunteers and, wouldn't you know it, she said it needed changing. So, being the helpful type I am, I told her that I would do it - it couldn't be that hard – right. So, I got it undressed, took it's diaper off and, oh man, I didn't know a baby could eat that much, and the smell almost knocked me out. Anyway, I put the diaper on the floor got a wipe and, just as I was cleaning it up, it peed on me. And, as I tried to get out of the way, I put my hand in the diaper, uugghhh" said Frank shaking his head. Aris, stifling a laugh, said "Frank, if you ever do have kids I'll know the prophets have a very strange sense of humour." "You think that's bad. I had to sit and listen to some man going on and on about how he was once a diplomatic attaché of the Federation, ambassador to new Romulus. He went on and on, full of nothing but self-importance. He reminded me of another man I once knew" said Daikin. Joe broke into this discourse. "Is everybody ready to go?" "Just about, the walk there will take us most of the day - won't it?" said Aris in a resigned air. "Normally, yes it would, but we're not walking" said Joe. "We're not?" queried Aris. "No, now we know where to go I've asked Tex to transport us there. He's waiting on us now" Joe replied. Doctor Frasier was standing nearby and said. "Well, before you go, I just want to thank you all for help. I especially want to thank you Doctor, you've helped a lot of people here. You've been a saviour to them all." "Oh no, I'm not the saviour, you are, helping all these people, bringing them into your home, treating them and not asking for anything, that just blows me away" said Cole. Doctor Frasier and Cole hugged each other then she turned to Joe and said, "I hope you find your friend." "As do I, and thank you" said Joe. He tapped his comm badge. "Tex you still there?" said Joe. "I hear you Cap and I'm standing by" Tex replied. "Lock on to our coordinates and transport us to the access shaft" commanded Joe. As the beam activated Joe saw Doctor Frasier wave them goodbye and then everything went white.

The next thing that Joe knew was that he was feeling cold, he thought that something may have gone wrong during transportation. But San Francisco Bay appeared before his eyes and he found out why it was so cold - it was very windy in the Bay area. He looked around at the others. "Is everybody alright?" he asked urgently. They all nodded saying they were OK. Joe then looked at the fog signal building. In some ways it reminded him of the houses back home. He also noted that, of all the buildings to survive the bombardment, this tiny little place hardly had a scratch on it. Tex had done a good job and had almost transported them right outside the front door. He looked up at the Bridge; standing so much close, he could see that it was a sorry sight the thick steel cables hung loose, the main roadway was gone, probably at the bottom of the Bay, and the paint was peeling away with rust was coming through. "I can see from here that the door is open, looks like somebody has already been through here" said Aris. "Alright, let's go" said Joe. As they walked in they found the place to be empty. Joe didn't know what he was expecting, but he wasn't expecting this. "Well, where is this access shaft?" said Joe. "In here." It was Daikin calling from another part of the building. They all found Daikin as he was standing in front of a huge metal door in the wall at the far end of the room that was open. They looked in and down to see lots and lots of steps going down into what seemed the like centre of the earth. The steps were lit by some very dim lights on the wall. "That's a lot of stairs" Joe observed. "How come there are lights on in here?" asked Frank. "Maybe the archive has its own power source" Joe replied. "Which means whoever switched it on could still be down there" said Frank. "Well, we're not going to find that out standing around up here" said Joe.

When they got to the bottom of the shaft they came to another slightly open door which opened out into a corridor. Joe caught an unpleasant smell of something as he stepped into the corridor "Can anybody else smell that?" asked Joe. "I know that smell anywhere - that's the smell of dead people" Frank responded. "You take point then, see if you can find out where that smell is coming from" said Joe. Frank led them down the corridor and around a corner to a room just off to the side. "It's coming from the other side of that door" said Frank. Joe nodded his head and, as Frank opened the door, the smell of rotting flesh hit them all at once. Joe covered his nose and mouth with his jacket and looked into the room. On the floor were three bodies, all of them male. "Rekha isn't in here" Joe said to the others. Cole stepped into the room and examined the bodies. "Rigor Mortis has set in so they've been dead for a while now, but it looks like the cause of death was different for each one." Pointing to the various bodies, Cole continued. "That one has a broken neck, he has a stab wound to the heart, and he looks like he shot by a phaser at close range." "Could Rekha have done this?" Joe queried. "I don't think so, she's good but not good enough to take on three people at once" said Daikin. Aris spoke. "I'm reading a large room about five hundred yards further down this corridor, could be the archive." "Alright, let's go" said Joe. They got to the room to find the door to it was slightly open, Joe was first into the room and he was surprised to see that the room was bathed in a blue glow which was coming from the data storage units in the room. "I didn't think that these would be still working" said Joe. "Starfleet used geo thermal energy for its power needs and, with this place being so far underground, it escaped the bombardment so it's still functioning" Daikin explained. Looking around Joe said "This place is massive, we should split up, that way we'd cover more ground. Aris, Frank, Doc, you head that way and fan out. Myself and Daikin will head this way - and remember to keep in touch." Daikin and Joe spread out keeping the others in sight. As he walked forward Joe noticed that there was another room in front to the right side of him. He decided to go have a look at it but, as he got about half way there, a phaser appeared at the side of his head, then he heard a familiar voice say, "Oh god it's you, I thought you were somebody else." Joe spun around to see Rekha lowering her phaser. "I thought you were going to blow my head off" said Joe ruefully. "REKHA, REKHA!" Daikin had seen them and was jogging towards them. "Rekha, I'm so glad you're still alive. Ever since that night when you appeared through the portal I wondered what had happened to you" said Daikin. Rekha and Daikin hugged each other. "I knew you would work it out but I didn't expect to see you or Joe here" said Rekha smiling. "I went to see Admiral T'paar. She was able to track down where that gel pack came from, but the nearest rescue ship was a week away. So, I tracked down the Captain and got him to bring me here. What happened to you Rekha?" said Daikin excitedly. "Walk with me and I'll tell you" said Rekha. Joe tapped his comm badge and said "Guys, we've found Captain Kaur, she's alive. Meet us at that control room, err room."

As they walked towards it, Rekha told them what had happened to her. "When I first went through the portal I found myself inside an office at what used to be Starfleet command. Trent was nowhere to be seen, but I could hear him banging and crashing around, so I used the sound to find him. I tracked him to the research centre on the other side of campus and he tore the place apart until after a few minutes he found what he was looking for. It was a gauntlet, only this one had a control panel on it. As soon as he put it on it started to glow and then I recognised it as Iconian Tech. Then he went around the centre looking for something else, but he couldn't find it. I heard him say to himself that it must be in the archive. As he left I knew that I should try and stop him because, whatever he was looking, for I knew would be bad for us. So, as he left I made my move. I got the upper hand as we fought and, with him dazed, I managed to get the gauntlet off him and put it on me. My next thought was to get off the planet so I headed to the shuttle bay, but they were badly damaged. I thought I could cannibalize parts from the others to make one fly, but I had only just got started when I heard what I thought was something metallic crashing on the floor. Not taking any chances that it could be Trent I got out of there. I thought I could lose him if I headed out into the residential area. For some crazy reason I still had hold of that gel pack. I guess I must have known that I'd need it. I found a wrecked house to hide in and work out my next move. I looked at the gauntlet that I had taken off Trent and I found out that it could generate portals. I thought that, if I could work out how it worked, I could get back to Starfleet, but it was in a dialect I couldn't understand. It wasn't long before Trent caught up with me, so I ran again. We played this game of cat and mouse for ages. In the end I found out how the gauntlet worked and, when I activated it, I could see what was on the other side - just like the other gateways Starfleet has come across. But Trent was getting close, and I was waiting for a gateway place I knew to come up. That's when I saw you in your room at home. I went for it, but Trent grabbed me. Then I remembered I still had hold of that gel pack so I threw it through. Me and Trent fought again, but this time he was mad. All I can remember is him hitting me. I think he knocked me out because the next thing I can remember is coming around and seeing that Trent was gone. I hurt like hell and I knew something was broken. I got out into the street and I knew I had to get back to the archive, but I didn't know where I was. The next thing I remember is waking up in what looked somebody's home which doubled up as a makeshift hospital." "Yes, we met Dr Gibson, it's a good job she found you. She told us that you had left and told her you were coming here" said Daikin. "Well, we can get out of here and back to the Banshee. Then we'll take you back to Starfleet" said Joe pointedly. Rekha protested. "We can't go yet. Trent came here for a reason and I've been trying to find out what that is, but he deleted the information. I've been running a programme to try and reconstruct the data, but it hasn't been easy. Trent sabotaged the computers before he left but I managed to get one computer working, however I'm no engineer" said Rekha. She showed them the smashed computers, but on the one computer that Rekha had repaired the words 'reconstruction complete' flashed on the screen. "About damn time" said Rekha with an irritated edge to her voice. She sat down at the computer, tapped the console a few times and said, "He was looking for another Icionian artefact" said Rekha. "What artefact?" asked Joe. "It doesn't say. All it's got is a number. Artefact 4281. I guess they didn't know what to call it. All it says is that it has the shape of a tetradeagon and that it's mass is thirty times denser than granite. Apparently, it was moved to a Facility Eighteen for evaluation. - What the hell is Facility Eighteen?" said Rekha again sounding irritated. "Are there any pictures of this artefact?" asked Daikin. "Checking now - there's only one" Rekha replied. She put it up on the screen and they saw that it had gold edges with light blue in the middle. "That's a strange looking thing" said Daikin. "Yes, but if Trent wants it then we want it" said Rekha. At that point, as a phaser blast exploded above his head, Joe said "OK, I think it's time to go." They all took cover and looked to see who had fired. What they saw was half a dozen men dressed in dark body armour taking cover some way in front of them. "Who the hell are these people?" queried Aris. "Cap, come in" said Tex over Joe's comm badge. "Yeah, go ahead Tex" Joe responded. "Cap, we've detected a ship in low orbit on the other side of the planet. I think you may have company soon" Tex replied. "Thanks for the heads up. Can you get a make on it?" asked Joe. "I'm afraid not Cap'n, it's too far away for us to tell." Well, whoever the hell they are they've got us pinned down. Are there any other ways out of here?" asked a worried Frank. "No, it's only one way in, one way out" said Rekha. More phaser fire came their way and they all ducked under cover, then abruptly it stopped as somebody shouted, "CAPTAIN KAUR, CAPTAIN KAUR?" Rekha looked at the other, then moved out from behind cover with her hands up. "Ah Captain, Lieutenant John Rico, Starfleet Marine Corps. It's good to see you alive" said a man encased in dark body armour as he walked forward and saluted. Rekha returned the salute saying "Lieutenant, I don't want to seem ungrateful, but what are you doing here?" "We were pulled off a joint training mission with the Andorian Imperial Guard under orders from Admiral T'paar to come here and start a search and rescue mission to find you Captain" the Lieutenant replied. "The Admiral told me that the nearest ship was a week away?" said Daikin. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about that, sir, but we were only a few days travel from here. Captain, our ship is in orbit, we can transport you aboard and you'll be able to speak to Starfleet command" the Lieutenant continued. "Wait, you can transport us from under all this rock?" queried Joe. "Yes sir, we've brought pattern enhancers just in case" the Lieutenant replied. "OK, get them set up Lieutenant" Rekha commanded. The Lieutenant turned to the other marines "You heard the Captain, get the enhancers set up." "What do you want us to do?" Joe asked Rekha. "The best thing you guys can do is go back to your ship and get some rest. You've done so much for me, I don't know how to thank you" said Rekha. "A few bars of latinum would be nice" said Frank who promptly received a back handed slap on the chest from Aris. "What will you do now?" asked Joe. "Report back to Starfleet and try to find out what this Facility Eighteen is. Then we can plan our next move" Rekha replied. "So, this is goodbye?" said Joe. "Well, not quite. Starfleet will want to debrief you and your crew as well, so stick around - OK?" said Rekha. "Captain, the enhancers are ready" said Lieutenant Rico. Rekha walked over to the enhancers and stood within them. Turning to face them she said. "I'll be in touch". Then Lieutenant Rico tapped his comm badge and said, "Rico to Campbeltown, we've got the Captain, pattern enhancers are set, ready for transport." Joe and the others watched Rekha, Daikin and the marines beam up to their ship. "Well I guess that's that then" said Aris. "Not yet, as Rekha said, we've got to be debriefed. In the meantime, as she suggested, I think we should all get some rest. Tex, you there?" said Joe tapping his comm badge. "Here Cap, is everything ok?" Tex replied. "Yeah we're all OK. Can you get a transporter lock on us?" asked Joe. "Afraid not Cap, sensors can't get a clear lock. There's too much rock between you" said Tex. "What about them pattern enhancers that those marines left behind?" said Cole. "Good idea Doc" said Joe. They all stood within the transporter enhancers and Joe said "Tex, can you get a lock on us now?" "Whatever you've done it did the trick. I've got a good solid lock on you, standby" said Tex and once again the room turned a snowy white.

"Captain Kaur, it's good to see you again, it's been a while" said the Captain of the Campbeltown. "Captain Flynn, request permission to come aboard" said Rekha. "Granted, you look like hell Rekha" said Captain Flynn. "You're no bunch of roses yourself Dominic, but I must admit I have felt better. Have you been in touch with Starfleet?" said Rekha. "Yes, but all we were told was to stand by because all the top brass are in an emergency meeting. But that was a few hours ago. Why don't you get yourself down to sickbay and have yourself checked out" said Captain Flynn with concern showing on his face. "I think that maybe I should" Rekha replied, nodding her head. "You had a lucky escape Captain, this could have been a lot worse. Fortunately, your injuries are easily treated" said the Campbelltown's Doctor. "Thank you, Doctor, all I need is something for the pain and I'll be fine" said Rekha. "Typical Rekha, you have no problem staring down the barrel of a phaser rifle, but having a Doctor check you over really bothers you" said a smiling Captain Flynn ruefully as he stood just inside the door. Just then the voice of Captain Flynn's first officer could be heard coming from his comm badge. "Bridge to Captain, Admiral T'paar on sub space for you and Captain Kaur" said the voice. "Put it through down here please. Doctor, do you mind if we use your office?" asked Captain Flynn. "No, by all means" the Doctor replied. Admiral T'paar's face came on the screen and she said "Captain Kaur, I am pleased to see that you are OK. I'll be very interested to hear your report on what happened." Rekha told the Admiral everything that had happened, from seeing Trent take one artefact at the research centre, trying to stop him, then tracking him to the archive and finding out what he was looking for. "Admiral, whatever he is looking for it is at Facility Eighteen. Do you know what that is?" Rekha asked finally. "I'm afraid I do not. But it could explain a disturbing piece of news that we've had. Admiral Munroe, who is in charge of Starfleet intelligence, has gone missing. He was attending a seminar on Vulcan. He retired to his quarters last night and this morning, when he didn't show, local security was sent to look for him. When they got into his quarters they found that there was no sign of him. There were, however, signs of a struggle. Local security still cannot find him anywhere. If anybody knows where and what this Facility Eighteen is, it would be him" said Admiral T'paar. "I bet it's Trent taking the Admiral to find out where Facility Eighteen is" said Rekha. "I agree, he used the portal generator to kidnap the Admiral and is probably torturing him to reveal the whereabouts of Facility Eighteen. If Trent is working for the Iconians then we must be ready for an attack. Your orders are to get back to Starfleet as soon as possible. If an attack is imminent you will be needed back on your ship. Starfleet out". "This does not look good. Flynn to bridge" said Captain Flynn. "Hold on Dom. Before we go could you hail the Banshee? I want to talk to her Captain" said Rekha. "Bridge, hail the Banshee and put it through down here" commanded Captain Flynn. "Aye sir" came the reply. Back on the Banshee Tex and Chel were listening to Frank tell them what had happened on Earth. "I'm telling you, these were blood thirsty people. They had us trapped in this room and we kept shooting them but, there was too many, so we had to take them on hand to hand - me and the Cap'n stood back to back and then…." "….and then we got rescued by a bunch of Starfleet marines" said Joe interrupting and cutting off Frank as he walked onto the Bridge." "Now why did you tell them that for, I was making us sound all heroic" said Frank hurtfully. "You shouldn't lie to people like that, it'll do you no good" said Joe. "Huh - don't lie to people, now that'll come in handy for our line of work" said Frank with a touch sarcasm. "Cap, the Campbeltown is hailing us" said Tex. "On screen" commanded Joe. Rekha's face came on the screen and Joe said, "Captain Kaur, I hope your here to tell us that Starfleet is on the case now that you've told them what happened." "I'm afraid not. The head of Starfleet intelligence has gone missing, believed to have been kidnapped by Trent. Admiral Munroe is possibly the only one who knows what and where Facility Eighteen is, which is what Trent is looking for. Starfleet thinks that an attack by the Iconians is imminent and we've been ordered back to Space Dock" said Rekha ruefully. Chel, who had been listening, interrupted. "I know a guy who might be able to help us find this Facility Eighteen." "Who?" Rekha replied. "His name is Erla. He's an old friend of mine. He's into the secrets that the major powers keep, the Klingons, Romulans and Federation. He built this machine that can intercept any transmission without anybody knowing about it and he's been doing it since before the Iconians came along" said Chel. "Do you think he could help us?" asked Rekha. "It sounds like something that's right up his street, so yeah, I think so" Chel replied. "Could you hold for a minute?" said Rekha. The screen went blank. "How come you've never told us about this Erla before?" Joe queried rather abruptly. "Well, Erla is one of those friends that you have but never tell people about - you know what I mean?" said Chel. "No, I don't" Joe replied. "Well, he's – err- lived by himself for a long time and he can be a bit unpredictable - or even crazy if you like" said Chel. "Crazy?" queried Joe. Tex butted in. "Cap, it's the Campbeltown again." "Put them on" Joe commanded. Rekha re-appeared on the screen and said "Captain, I want to ask a favour of you. The Campbeltown has to head back to Space Dock, but I was wondering if I could come aboard and we could go find this Erla." "why not, we've come this far, come aboard" replied Joe. "I also have another favour to ask" said Rekha.

CHAPTER FIVE

"Coming up on the Manticore System Cap" said Tex. "Take us out of warp" Joe answered. The Banshee slowed to impulse power and made its way into the system. "Chel, are you sure this friend of yours is going to be OK with us dropping in on him out the blue?" asked Joe. "Not out of the blue. It's a good bet that Erla already knows we're here" said Chel. "Well, why don't we just hail him then?" Frank queried. "He won't respond. It'll give his location away. Plus, Erla is the kind of person that likes to speak face to face" said Chel. "So, how do we speak to him then?" said Joe. "Set course for Manticore Eight, Erla lives on its moon" Chel replied. As the Banshee approached Manticore Eight's moon, Aris was scanning the moon and said "Chel, are you sure your friend lives on the moon because all I'm seeing is rocks and dust?" "Sure, he does. But when I say lives on it, I mean lives in it" said Chel cheerily. "Well, he must live really deep underground because all I'm seeing is rock for five hundred metres" said Aris. "That's just a trick Erla uses just in case anybody comes looking for him" said Chel. "Why do I get the feeling this guy does not want to be found" said Joe. "Because he doesn't. Erla believes that, because of what he knows, he'll become a prime target. So, he created all of this so he could live off the grid as it were" said Chel. "And now he sees what he thinks is a Federation starship sitting above his home, which is only going to increase his paranoia even more. I don't think he'll be rolling out the red carpet for us Cap" said Frank. "That's why we should keep the people who go down there to a minimum. It should be me, the Captain and Rekha that go down" said Chel. "Agreed, question is, where do we beam down to?" said Joe. Chel walked over to the scanners, looked at them for a few seconds then said, "This is where we need to go" Chel said, pointing at the screen.

Joe had to admit, it was one of the most breath-taking views he had ever seen. In fact, if he ever compiled a top ten list of the greatest views this would most certainly be in there. The coordinates that Chel had given them had put them in the middle of a vast canyon, the walls must have been over two miles high and god only knows how long it went on for. He looked up and looking right back at him was Manticore Eight. Just as he looked over at Chel he heard his voice come over the speaker of his EV suit. "We need to go this way I think" said Chel. "You think?" Joe queried rather impatiently. "Well, it's been a long time since I was last here. I just need to get my bearings. Yes, I'm pretty sure it's this way" said Chel a little more confidently. Joe looked over at Rekha; he could see that she had a look on her face which said she wasn't sure about this. They made their way across the canyon floor until Chel stopped and started to look on the canyon wall for something. "What are you looking for?" asked Joe. "A control panel. If I can find it we can get inside" Chel replied. "A control panel - for a door you mean?" asked Rekha. "Yeah, a back door - that's if I can find it" said Chel. "We're not going in the front door?" said Joe. "We'd never survive going through the front" said Chel matter-of factly. He searched all over for another minute or so until he found the control panel by sliding the cover, which looked very much like part of the natural rock, to one side exposing seven isolinear rods. Chel took one out and put it in another hole, then did the same to another, then another, until a door next to him slid open. "Nice work Chel" said Joe. "Thank you, Captain. We'd better be cautious though, Erla isn't keen on unannounced visitors" said Chel warily. As they continued inside, they saw that they were in some sort of storage area where old computers, tools and boxes of data pads now lived. But the light was low so it was difficult to tell exactly what was there. Suddenly Joe saw something move out the corner of his eye, he turned just in time to see a drone heading their way. He turned back to face the door they had just came through, but saw that it was closed. He turned back to face the drone, which had a very serious looking phaser mounted on it, as it hovered right in front of them keeping them at bay. Out of the shadows a man came towards them not wearing EV suit but pointing a disrupter pistol at them. "You can take off your helmets, I've filled the room with air, how much of it you breath is down to you" said the man. "Erla, it's me, Chel" said Chel enthusiastically as he took off his helmet. "Not possible. The Chel I knew was killed by an Orion slave trader" said Erla. "No, I managed to get away from him and I kept a low profile ever since" said Chel. Erla moved closer to Chel keeping his disrupter on him, he studied he face for a few seconds then in a warm tone Erla said "Ahh Chel my old friend, I thought you were dead. That Orion was very angry with you." "I can guess so, but there was no way I was going to let that ship of his stay in working order" said Chel. "So, you made it so that it would loose all power when it left orbit. You know all of his, merchandise, escaped when that happened, he ended up leaving that ship behind, no wonder you kept a low profile. Who are these two anyway?" asked Erla. "This is my Captain - Joe Russell, and this is Captain Rekha Kaur of the United Federation of Planets" Chel replied. Erla's eyes opened wide and he said to Chel rather crossly "You've brought a Fed into my outpost. What if she's section thirty-one?" "What's section thirty- one?" Chel replied "They're the guys that do all the stuff that regular intelligence doesn't - like assassinations" said Erla. "I'm not with Section thirty- one, I've never even heard of them" said Rekha interrupting. "Well, you would say that would say that wouldn't you, tell me, what are you doing here?" asked Erla turning to Chel. "We're looking for help. We need information about a place called Facility Eighteen said Chel. "We were told you might be able to help" said Rekha as pleasantly as she could. "Facility Eighteen? Why are you looking for this place?" asked Erla. "Let us in and we'll tell you" said Joe. Erla looked at Joe, then at Chel, then Rekha and said "Very well. You can take those EV suits off inside." They were led through a set of doors down, a set of stairs into a big luxurious lounge. "Jarvis, we have guests" said Erla in the lead. A man appeared in front of them attired as a butler. "Would you like me to prepare some refreshments sir?" asked the man. Turning to face them Erla asked "Do you guys want anything - no? Nothing for me thank you Jarvis" said Erla. "Very good sir" said the butler and disappeared. "Who was that?" Joe asked as he climbed out of his EV suit. "That was Jarvis, he helps me run things here. As you probably guessed, he's a hologram. He's also capable of interfacing with my main computer so it makes things easier for me" said Erla. "Well, at least you have someone to talk to so you don't go mad" said Joe. "Oh, Jarvis isn't the only one that keeps me company" said Erla smiling as he walked over to open a door on the other side of the room. As the others looked in they saw a swimming pool, and relaxing nearby on a pair of sun loungers were two women. Joe couldn't help but notice just how beautiful they were, one had long brunette hair and was wearing a white and silver bikini, the other had red hair and was wearing a black one-piece swim suit and Joe noticed that she had green eyes. "These lovely ladies keep me company as well and, while they may only be holograms, they're programmed with certain abilities that make them just as good as any flesh and blood woman." Said Erla, then raising his voice called "Ladies, say hello to our guests." Turning to face them, the two women in unison said "Hi." "Well, I must admit, you've certainly got it good here" said Joe. "Let me guess. You expected to find some strange man living in a small underground cave with nobody but himself for company - right?" said Erla closing the door to the swimming room. "Something like that" Joe said ruefully. "You're not the only one. Everybody I do business with seems to think that of me that way. But I'm fine with that because they leave me alone and I can get on with doing what I do" said Erla. "They must change their minds once they see this?" said Aris. "No, there's another room I meet them in that's more in line with their expectations. You're the first people to see this area" said Erla. "And what business do you do?" Rekha asked. "I collect, sell or trade information. You know what they say - information is power, and anybody can have it as long as they can meet my price" said Erla. "And here's me thinking you were this crazy guy who just listened in on everybody" said Chel. "All part of the act I'm afraid, that way I'll be dismissed as just another nobody and be forgotten about. My work demands a low profile" said Erla. "So, what do you know about Facility Eighteen?" asked Rekha more business-like. "I suppose you're calling in that favour now?" said Erla looking at Chel. "Yeah, I'm afraid so" said Chel. "Jarvis can you find all information we have on a Facility Eighteen please" said Erla to no one in particular. "Certainly sir" said a disembodied voice. A moment later the voice said "I can only find one mention of a Facility Eighteen sir, an encrypted message from an Admiral Akbar to a Mr. Smith. The message says that Facility Eighteen has been safely moved to Sector 22139. There was no reply." "Sector 22139? That's going to be a pain. It's a binary star system and there are about twenty planets plus numerous moons. It would take days to search that system" said Rekha. "Maybe so, but if you can get in contact with the Admiral and tell her that we've got a lead on where Facility Eighteen is maybe she could send some more ships to help in the search" said Joe. "Well, if you do you'll have to use the comms on your ship. The moment I start broadcasting I might as well put up a sign telling everyone where I am" said Erla. "Don't worry, we will" Joe replied. "Thanks, Erla, I think we can consider that as us being even now" said Chel. Chel looked over at Joe and Rekha and could see that they wanted to get going. "Well, I guess it's time for us to go" said Chel. "Not a problem, but remember if you need to know anything, you know where to find me" said Erla. "Tex you there?" said Joe tapping his comm badge. "Go ahead Cap" Tex replied. "We've got a good lead on where Facility Eighteen is, beam us up" Joe commanded. Erla watched as the transporter beam engaged and they then disappeared. "Huh, they didn't even say goodbye" said Erla. Then he looked over to the room that had the swimming pool and the two women on the sun loungers and a big wolfish grin appeared on his face.

Joe, Rekha and Chel strode onto the bridge. "Tex, set a course for Sector 22139 and engage at warp eight" said Joe. "Do you mind if I use your ready room?" Rekha asked. "I have a ready room?" said Joe. "yes, it's your office, over there remember?" said Rekha pointing to a set of doors off to the side of the bridge. "of course, by all means" said Joe. As Rekha walked off into the ready room Joe said to Chel "So what's this favour that Erla owed you?" "Well, you remember those women we saw by the swimming pool?" said Chel. "I remember" Joe replied. "Well, I created them, and Jarvis, for him" Chel replied. "Really?" said Joe quizzically. "Yeah, I had known Erla for about a year when, one day, we got talking. He said that the big draw back to what he does is that he was on his own a lot. I jokingly suggested that he should get some holograms for company. Well, to cut a long story short, he asked if I would make these holograms for him. He didn't have much money but I did it as a favour for a friend. He said if I needed anything I only need ask." Joe was looking at Chel a bit askance. "Well, come on, all men, even men like Erla, have certain wants, certain needs. We all can't live like hermits" Chel responded. Joe sighed and turned to Tex saying "How we doing?" "We're on course, ETA to Sector 22139 is ten point three hours" said Tex. Just then Rekha came out of the ready room. "I've spoken to Admiral T'paar. She's getting some ships together, but it's going to take time because the Fleet is spread out. So, it'll be a while before they get to us. Until then we're on our own. I've been ordered to find out what Facility Eighteen is all about and, if Trent is there, to bring him back to Starfleet if possible" said Rekha. "What if it's not possible?" asked Joe. Rekha didn't say anything, but everybody on the bridge knew what her silence meant. "Given the fact that we are going into an unknown situation, I think it best if you guys stay here on the Banshee" said Rekha. "We'll monitor you while you're there. If you get into trouble we'll pull you out" said Joe. "Thanks. I don't think we'll have many problems, but you never know. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go brief the Lieutenant" said Rekha. As she turned to leave Joe said, "That was a good idea of yours." "What was?" asked Rekha. "To have Captain Flynn transfer those marines to your command" Joe replied. "I had hoped we'd never need them but my gut told me that we might" said Rekha.

By the ship's clock it was two in the morning, but the only people that were asleep were the marines in the main cargo bay. On the bridge everyone was awake, the normal banter had been replaced with silence, they were all wondering what they would find and making plans for anything might happen. Rekha was in her quarters reading, it was the only way she could calm her thoughts. She had been over everything in her mind a hundred times - the best way to deploy the marines, what to do if Trent was there; every possible scenario had been planned for - at least she hoped so. She was just coming to the end of the chapter when she felt the ship drop out of warp. Then a voice came over her comm badge, it was Joe. "Rekha, could you come to the bridge, we've reached sector 22139." "On my way" she replied. As she left her quarters she tapped her comm badge. "Kaur to Rico, get your marines ready, we've reached sector 22139." "Yes Captain" came the reply. When Rekha got to the bridge she saw that the Banshee crew was gathered around the ops console and she heard Aris say, "I don't know where you want to start looking, this is one big system." Joe saw Rekha walk onto the bridge and said to her "Have you got any ideas where we should start looking?" Rekha walked over to the ops console and looked at the display. "This is going to be more difficult than I thought, and we can't hang around waiting for Trent to make his move" said Rekha. "Well, if you've got any ideas, now's the time" Joe replied. Rekha thought for a few seconds then said, "An active, high resolution, scan should reveal anything here?" "Yeah, but that would give us away as well" Aris observed. "Well, it's a choice between that or hours, possibly days, of searching" said Rekha. "Go active Aris" said Joe. Rekha watched as Aris tapped in the commands for an active scan. It didn't take long for the results to come back. "We got something. I'm reading a structure fifty thousand kilometres inside the local asteroid belt. It's sitting on the surface of a large asteroid. I can't determine what it is but it is manmade" said Aris. "Transfer the coordinates to Tex. Set a course please Tex" Joe commanded softly. As they approached the asteroid belt Aris said "This is where the reading is coming from, but I'm not reading anything down their now. No buildings, no nothing" said Aris with a tone of frustration. "Let's see it" said Joe. The main screen came on showing images of the asteroids surface. "All I'm reading is what this asteroid is made of. I don't understand where the hell that building went. Hang on, I'm getting a faint energy reading. I bet that's a force field hiding the building. If I could disrupt it..." said Aris absently. Everyone watched the screen as Aris worked to disrupt the energy reading. Suddenly there was a small flash across the surface of the asteroid. "Hang on, I've almost got it" said Aris triumphantly. The surface flashed again a few more times, then things changed. There was a huge hole where there used to be a flat surface, and in that hole, was a structure with a strange looking ship. "Oh god no!" said Rekha sharply. "What?" said Joe startled. "That's a Iconian warship. They've been hiding a god damn Iconian warship" said Rekha. Joe turned to Aris and said, "Are you picking up any life signs down there?" Aris looked closely at her console and said "I'm reading eleven life signs - ten alien, one human. Nine of the alien life signs are coming from the ship, the other two are in the building" said Aris. "It looks like Trent has got some friends" said Frank. Rekha looked at Frank and said abruptly "So do I." She tapped her comm badge and said "Kaur to Lieutenant Rico, you and your marines report to transporter room one. We have our target." "On our way Captain" came the reply. "Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" asked Joe. "No, it's better you stay on board. There's no telling what we'll find down there, but I'll keep an open comm line so you can hear what's going on" said Rekha. "OK, but watch your back" said Joe encouragingly.

When Rekha rematerialized, she expected to see Trent in front of her. Instead she found herself in a pitch-black room that had a foul smell to it. "Captain, you here?" The voice was familiar to her but she had to be sure. "Lieutenant is that you?" said Rekha quietly. "Yes Captain, are you alright?" Lieutenant Rico replied. "I'm fine but where the hell are we?" said Rekha. "I don't know. My guess is that it is a countermeasure against transportation. It has scattered us all over the facility. I should have seen that one coming" said Lieutenant Rico. Then a beam of light came on. Rekha knew that Lieutenant Rico had just switched on the light that was attached to his phaser rifle. "Lieutenant, we need to find out how many of us are left and where" said Rekha "Yes sir, Rico to all marines, report in" Lieutenant Rico said into his comm. badge. Rekha and the Lieutenant listened as five of the marines reported in, after that there was nothing. "They could be in a communication dead zone" said the Lieutenant hopefully. "Possibly, but I think we should assume the worst" said Rekha authoritatively. She unclipped her tricorder, flipped it open and scanned the room. "It looks like we've been transported in three floors below where Trent is, into some sort of storage area. I'm reading a door ten meters in this direction" said Rekha. With the light from Lieutenant Rico's phaser rifle they were able to find the door without any problems and the lock presented little problem either. One blast from the Lieutenant's phaser rifle sorted that out. Rekha opened the door slowly, had a look to see if anybody was around then she and the Lieutenant walked out into the corridor with their weapons ready. Rekha started scanning with her tricorder. As she did so she noticed that Trent and the alien life sign were still in the same place as last time. "Captain, the squad is requesting instructions, what do I tell them?" asked Lieutenant Rico. "Tell them that I'm sending coordinates for a rendezvous. That should put us one floor below our target. Then we'll go in" said Rekha. "Yes Ma'am" Lieutenant Rico replied. As the Lieutenant gave out the orders, Rekha scanned for a way up and she found a turbo lift for transporting freight between floors. But that was too obvious. She scanned again and found what looked like an access shaft with a ladder built into it. She looked into the shaft and saw that it went all the way to the top, as well as going all the way to the bottom. She looked back to see Lieutenant Rico jogging towards her having just finished giving out the orders. "I think this is our best bet" said Rekha. Lieutenant Rico nodded and asked, "Do you want me to take point?" "No, I'll go first you watch our rear" Rekha replied. Putting her tricorder and phaser back into their holders, Rekha and the Lieutenant climbed up the ladder. When they got to the rendezvous point they saw two of the marines already waiting for them. "Captain, Lieutenant, it's good to see you" said one of the marines. "Did you see any other of our missing squad?" queried Lieutenant Rico. "No sir, me and Davis met up on our way here. We've not see anybody else yet" the marine replied. Just then they heard somebody else approaching. They all looked around to see a big marine and three others with him. "Good to see you Master Chief" said Lieutenant Rico. "You to Lieutenant. I found Drokso and Jiar as I was coming here. I also saw the rest of our squad. I'm afraid they're dead. Some were transported into the walls, the others into the floor. Ain't no way for a marine to die" said Master Chief Thoki shaking his head. "We'll mourn them later Master Chief, our target is one floor up. Remember, alive if possible, dead if necessary" said Rekha. "Yes Ma'am" said the Master Chief gripping his phaser rifle a little more tightly. They climbed the access shaft to the floor above them and gathered outside the door to the room that Trent was in. Rekha gave one nod of the head to Lieutenant Rico. He stuck a suppressed pulse charge to the door and everybody looked away. The charge sent a shockwave through the door causing it to fly across the room away from them. Trent turned and watched the door as it came towards him, it just missed him and crashed into the wall behind him. In the next second Rekha plus the remaining marines came pouring through the open door. He instantly took cover and grabbed the phaser he was carrying. The strange looking alien that was with Trent drew his weapon and began firing at the marines. The personal shields, that the marines had, protected them, but it also stopped their advance. Trent took advantage of this and ran towards a nearby door. "He's going for the ship" the Lieutenant shouted as phaser blasts exploded around him. "Give me covering fire" Rekha commanded as she leapt up and began to run towards where Trent was. At the same time the Lieutenant shouted, "COVERING FIRE." The marines broke cover and started shooting at the alien. While the alien also had personal shields, they soon failed under the onslaught of the marine's fire. And, with next to no cover to get behind, the alien was overwhelmed and dead before it hit the ground. By this time Trent had reached the air lock. He turned around and saw Rekha running at full speed towards him as she fired her phaser at him. He managed to duck out of the way just before they hit. Then he got the air lock open, slipped through and pressed the close button, and continued running. Rekha saw the door closing and tried to run faster, but she was already at full tilt. The gap was getting smaller and smaller, it only took her a second to realise that it was going to be close. She made a desperate leap through the gap, and made it through, but her foot hit the door as it was closing which sent her crashing to the floor. After picking herself up she saw Trent had reached the ship. She fired her phaser twice more, but again both shots missed. Trent ducked into the ship and vanished. Rekha ran as fast as she could towards the doors, but they closed and locked just before she got there. On the Banshee Aris was manning the sensors when she noticed the Iconian warship powering up. "Sir, that ship's engines are coming on line" said Aris urgently. "Rekha, that alien ship is powering up its engines" said Joe. "I know, Trent is in there and I'm trying to get in to it now" Rekha replied. "You'd better hurry or you'll be exposed to space - REKHA!" Joe cried urgently raising his voice. Rekha heard Joe but she was too busy thinking of a way in to the alien ship. Then she hit on an idea; setting her phaser to overload, she placed it at the base of the door and took cover. The phaser exploded sending pieces of metal everywhere. When she thought it was safe she looked to see how much damage the phaser had done and was pleased to see the airlock doors were no more. That was the good news, the bad news was that she had just destroyed her only weapon, and the marines were back in the building - but she had come this far. So, she ran through what was left of the doors and onto the ship. "Banshee to Lieutenant Rico, standby, we're going to beam you and your marines on board" said Joe. "Negative, this place has countermeasures against beaming" the Lieutenant replied. "but not against beaming out, right?" said Joe. "I won't take the risk, I've already lost half my squad and I won't lose anymore. Just go get the Captain" Lieutenant Rico responded. "Cap, that ship is taking off" said Tex. "Sit tight Lieutenant, we'll be back" said Joe. Back in the facility Lieutenant Rico, Master Chief Thoki and the rest of the squad could only watch as the Iconian ship lifted off into space. On board the Iconian ship Rekha felt it lift off. She thought quickly, got hold of her tricorder and started scanning." On the Banshee Joe was thinking fast. "Tex, bring us alongside that ship, I'm going on board" said Joe. "Sir, with all due respect, I think you've just lost your mind" said Aris. "I agree; this is nothing to with us" said Frank. "But Captain Kaur is there on her own, we just can't leave her there" Joe replied. Turning to look at his crew, he said "Look, I know this isn't our fight, but it is about doing what is right. So, I'm going over there and I'm going to help. If you all want to come then OK, I'd appreciate the help and so would she. But if you want to stay here, nobody will think the lesser of you" said Joe, who then left the bridge and headed for the transporter room leaving the rest of the crew looking at each other.

Joe had just finished locking in the coordinates when the transporter room doors opened. "I can't let you get killed. You are my responsibility after all" said Aris. "Your odds will improve with the rest of us with you" said Cole. "Plus, you're going to need an engineer to help you to disable that ship" said Chel. "I just love a good fight" said Frank. "You guys don't have to do this" said Joe. "Well, it like what you said, it's about doing the right thing" said Aris. Joe couldn't help but feel proud of them. But just before they stepped on the transporter pad Joe said, "Aris I want you to stay here and help Tex, as good as he is he can't fly this ship by himself." Aris replied with some disappointment "I can fight just as well as anybody." "I know you can, but Tex needs you more" said Joe soothingly. "OK, but if you don't come back alive I'll kill you myself" said Aris defiantly. Joe chuckled and said, "You have my word." He and the others stepped onto the transporter pad, and the last thing he saw before he dematerialized was Aris standing with a worried look on her face.

When they rematerialized, they found themselves in a large corridor. Joe grabbed hold of the tricorder that he had brought with him, flipped it open and started scanning. He then tapped his comm badge. "Rekha, can you hear me?" said Joe. "Please tell me you're not on this ship" Rekha replied resignedly. "We are on this ship, where are you?" asked Joe. "I'm on my way to the bridge. If I know Trent it's fair to say that is where he is" Rekha replied. "OK, stay where you are and we'll come to you - err, where is that by the way?" said Joe. Rekha rolled her eyes and replied, "Do you have a tricorder on you?" "Yes, I got one here" said Joe. "OK, I'll switch mine to transmit a homing signal that you'll be able to pick up" said Rekha. When she switched to modify her tricorder mode, Joe said "OK, I see you. You're not that far from us." "Don't be too long" Rekha said a little impatiently. "Captain, I've been taking scans of this ship and discovered something interesting. This ship is bio-organic, well most of it is - like the outer hull and some of the walls and floors. But the structural supports are a mix of Starithium, Tetraburnium and Exatanium" said Cole. "Wait, are you saying this ship is alive?" said Frank. "Not alive as such, more like conscious of us" said Cole. "Great, a living ship" Frank replied. "OK, here's what we're going to do. Frank, you, Chel and the Doc head to engineering, see if you can shut this thing down. I'll go meet up with Captain Kaur. Remember, we scanned some alien life signs on this ship so watch your back" said Joe. As he watched as Frank, Chel and Cole headed off, he heard Tex on his comm badge. "Cap you there?" said Tex. "Yeah Tex, what's up?" said Joe. "Just to let you know, that ship you're on will reach the edge of the asteroid field in about thirty seconds. After that she can engage her warp engines, then it's sayonara" said Tex. "Can you take out it's warp engines?" asked Joe urgently. "Cap, that thing hasn't got warp engines, well at least not in the conventional sense" Tex replied. "Don't let this ship go to warp. As it clears the asteroid field, you take out its engines - OK?" Joe commanded. "Aye Cap" Tex replied.

"Are you sure you are reading that thing right?" said Frank. "Of course I'm sure" said Chel, who was out in front scanning for the way to engineering. They came to a door and Chel said "Through this door, then there's another compartment on the far side. That should be engineering - or at least I hope so." They opened the door and went into the next room. "Is this what I think it is?" Frank queried. "If you think this is a room containing loads of Stasis Pods - then you're right" Cole replied. Just as they got to the far end of the room they heard the locks on the Stasis pods undo and watched as the doors opened. "That ain't fair" said Frank.

"It's about time" Rekha remarked as Joe and came towards her. "Sorry about that, even with this tricorder I still managed to get turned around" Joe replied. "We'll work on your sense of direction later. The bridge is just down there, and there's one human life sign in there" said Rekha. Joe handed her his phaser. "Here, you better have this since you destroyed yours" said Joe. "Are you sure?" Rekha queried. "Quite sure, I have a backup" Joe responded as he took out his sword and pressed the button on the hilt. The blade came together and glinted in the light. "Not bad, come on" said Rekha.

Back on the Banshee Tex watched as the Iconian ship left the asteroid belt. "Well, it's now or never" he said to Aris. "Bringing all phasers to full power, weapons ready, phasers are locked" Aris responded. She hesitated a second before giving the command to fire, then pressed the button. The Banshee's forward phaser bank and cannons hit the Iconian ship centre, which shook heavily causing both Rekha and Joe to stumble. "Have we just been fired upon?" said Rekha alarmed. "We must have cleared the asteroid belt. I told Tex to take out its warp engines if we get beyond it" Joe replied. "Then we'd better get in there" said Rekha. She set her phaser to full power and fired it at the door which turned a bright orange and crumbled away. They rushed into the room expecting to see Trent in there -but he wasn't to be seen. Rekha flipped her tricorder and started scanning. Just as she did Trent ambushed them both from behind and they were both sent crashing to the floor. Joe got up quickly, drew his sword back and swung it twice, once at Trent's head then down to his legs. But both times Trent dodged the sword. Joe spun around and thrust the sword at where he thought Trent's midsection would be, but again Trent dodged out of the way. He then grabbed Joe's hand at the same time bringing his knee up crashing into the hand. Pain shot through Joe's hand and he dropped his sword. Trent then picked Joe up and threw him to the floor. Rekha was now stood up and she fired her phaser at Trent; even though it hit him and her phaser was at full power, Trent had a personal shield protecting him. The only effect the phaser had on him was to cause him to stumble backwards. Rekha tried to fire again but the phaser malfunctioned. "Damn, I guess we're going to have to take him together" Rekha said as Joe got back to his feet and said, "Ladies first." "Always the gentleman" Rekha replied sarcastically.

On the Banshee Tex and Aris breathed a sigh of relief. The Iconian ship hadn't gone to warp and the scanners showed that everyone was still alive. Tex made a pass over the ship and turned the Banshee around in a wide arc to come back in behind the Iconian ship, when he noticed about a dozen small craft being launched from the ship. "Oh crap" he said to himself.

"WILL YOU HURRY UP WITH THEM ROTTEN DOORS!" yelled Frank as he was keeping the aliens at bay with his shiny new TR-116 rifle - but he was running low on bullets. "OK, we've got it. Let's go" said Chel. They ran into the next room with Frank providing covering fire and closed the doors behind them. Chel sealed the doors and Frank said, "This don't look like any type of engine room I've seen before." Looking around the room, Frank saw it had vein like conduits filled with some sort of fluid in them running across the walls and ceiling. He then looked at Chel and said, "So where do we start?" Looking back at him, Chel replied "I have absolutely no idea." "What do you mean you have no idea, you are an engineer right?" queried Frank with a touch of alarm. "I was expecting a warp core or something, not this" said Chel gesturing to the vein like conduits. "So, what do we do now?" said Frank. "Well, this ship is more organic than anything else, so we need…." Chel didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Cole interjected saying "A doctor!". Both Frank and Chel looked at Cole and saw him kneeling on the ground scanning some dark round objects. "What you got their Doc?" Frank queried. "These are filled with a neurolytic pathogen. Judging by the amount here I'd say there's enough to wipe out the entire population of a decent size planet" Cole replied. Then they heard banging on the door. "Oh great, those aliens are about to bust in here and we're trapped in a room with this neuro whatisstuff" said Frank. Ignoring Frank, Cole said thoughtfully "Of course, that's it." "I'm not following you Doc" Chel replied. "This ship is mainly bio-organic. If I inject the pathogen into the conduits, it should infect the organic parts of the ship, which hopefully would render it useless" Cole replied. "I'm not sure you're going to have the time Doc" said Frank looking at the door. "The power pack on my phaser is all but drained, only a few shots left" said Chel. "Mine too. How many bullets do you have in that thing?" Cole queried of Frank. "Not enough" he replied. "I guess we'll have to go hand to hand" Chel said reluctantly, while Frank responded enthusiastically saying "I like you're thinking". He then pulled out two knifes from the small of his back and gave one to Chel and the other to Cole. He then reached into his boot and pulled out another knife. "Jesus Frank, how many of them thing's do you have?" said Cole with surprise. "Can't have too many knives" Frank replied with a half-smile. They watched as the door started to give way and, as the hands of the aliens started to pull the door back, Frank made himself ready saying "Gentlemen – looks like the party is coming to us". "for the record, this is not my idea of a party" replied Cole.

Joe managed to duck under one punch and dodged the other. As another punch came in he managed to grab hold of Trent's, heaving him over his shoulder and then throwing him to the floor. But, before he takes any further action he received a kick in the head from Trent, which sent him reeling. Trent then quickly got up and moved in on Joe. God, this guy is just a fighting machine thought Joe as he wiped away some blood from his nose. Just as was readying himself to take Trent's move, Rekha blindsided him with a kick to the stomach then a right hook to the face which sent him crashing to the ground. But Trent got up quickly. However, this time both Joe and Rekha pressed their attack and both started throwing punches knowing Trent couldn't block them all. They both landed a few punches, but Trent managed to kick Rekha in the chest which sent her flying. Trent then threw a haymaker at Joe which connected but, using the momentum, Joe threw a spinning elbow which sent Trent crashing to the floor. Trent saw Joe and Rekha standing over him as he picked himself up saying defiantly "I cannot allow you to stop us." "You might as well give up. We know what these ships can do and you're not going to be using it against us or anybody else" said Rekha. "NOT AGAINST YOU!" Trent said loudly as the ship shook causing Joe and Rekha to lose their balance. Trent used the distraction to crash tackle Joe who had the wind knocked out of him as he fell to the floor.

"Oh no, you do not shoot that shit at me" said Tex as a burst from an anti-proton cannon flew past the Banshee. Tex was working hard, much harder, than he had ever done before. "Err honey, could you shoot down some of them fighters for me?" said Tex engagingly. "I would love to but the targeting computer is having a tough time keeping up, there's just so many of them" Aris replied. The Banshee's cannons fired and another fighter was destroyed. Tex swung the Banshee hard left as Aris sighted another fighter and lined up to it. Too late, Tex realised that they had been caught in a pincer manoeuvre. Just as he was wondering what he should do, the approaching fighters exploded. Stunned by this sudden good luck Tex heard a voice come over the intercom "This is Wild Card Leader to the Banshee; can you hear me?" "I hear you Wild Card Leader, where did you guys come from?" Tex queried with some incredulity. "Don't you see that big carrier starship on your sensors?" came the reply. Aris checked the sensors. "I see one starship, it's the Tempest" Aris responded. "Well, I'll be damned" said Tex. "Not yet, hopefully, but we would appreciate it if you would give us a hand" said the Squad Leader. "Delighted to" said Tex as he looked at Aris.

"Where the hell did all these aliens come from, there wasn't that many Stasis pods out there" said Frank as he finished off another of them. "I have no idea" said Chel struggling as he ducked a punch. "I think they could be from Stasis pods from other parts of the ship" said Cole as he battled with one of the aliens. "That's just great" said Frank as he saw more aliens came towards him. "Doc that idea you had about killing the ship - do it. I'll watch your back" said Frank. Cole finished off the alien he was fighting then ran over to the dark round objects. He quickly took out the hypo spray from his med kit and siphoned some of the pathogen into it. He then ran over to the conduits and injected the pathogen into one of them. The conduit immediately started to turn black and it wasn't long before all the rest of them were turning black as well. Also, what looked like display panels started to fail. Cole heard a strange sound come from all around him, it sounded like the shock of being injected with the pathogen was too much for the ship and it knew it was dying.

Joe had been in some tough fights before, but this one was his toughest. He had tried every trick he knew, but still Trent wouldn't go down. As Joe stopped on the floor to catch his breath, he looked up to see Rekha and Trent still fighting. Joe got to his knees was just about to stand up and get back in the fight when all the control panels went out, as well as the main lights, and the dim emergency lights kicked in. "What have you done, you can't - you mustn't" Trent cried. Back on his feet, Joe took advantage of the distraction and ran towards Trent. He knew this fight had to end now and, as he got near Trent, he jumped forward and hit him with a superman punch. Trent was knocked senseless. He tried to get up but, at first, neither his arms or legs would obey him. But, after stopping to gather his senses, he got unsteadily back to his feet. The punch had taken a lot out of Joe and he was feeling completely drained of energy as he slumped to his knees. He turned to see Trent get back on his feet. What the hell does it take put this guy on the floor thought Joe. Rekha stepped past him and eyed up Trent. The punch Joe had delivered had also taken its toll on Trent. She wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. Knowing she had the upper hand now she knew she had to finish it. Trent threw a weak left punch then a right, Rekha blocked both punches but, as quick as a flash, she grabbed hold of Trent's right arm and drove her knee up breaking it. Trent roared with pain, but that was quickly silenced when Rekha delivered a knife hand strike straight to his throat, which crushed his wind pipe. Rekha watched as he reached for his throat with his one good arm. Trent staggered back hitting the bulkhead behind him, his mouth opened and closed like that of a goldfish in a desperate attempt to breath. He fell to his knees, his mouth opened one more time, then he fell to his side - dead. "Are you alright?" Rekha asked tenderly as she walked over to where Joe was. "I've heard men telling stories about having to fight machines, but I never thought I'd have to do it myself though" said Joe. "He's no machine, just a man" said Rekha. "But one that was very good at fighting" Joe replied ruefully. "Well, before he left Starfleet he did teach self-defence classes" said Rekha while helping Joe back up. "And you didn't think to tell me this before?" said Joe. "I knew we could take him" said Rekha flashing him a smile. Joe looked around and said, "I wonder why everything shut off, we'd better check in with the others."

"That'd better be the last of them" said Frank as he looked at the bodies of the aliens lying on the floor. "I wonder why they stopped coming, we were outnumbered" said Chel. "I don't know but I'm glad they did stop as I don't know how much longer I could have gone on for" Cole replied. Just then Frank heard Joe's voice come through his comm badge. "Frank can you hear me?" "Yeah, we hear you" said Frank. "Is everybody OK?" Joe asked earnestly. "Just about, we've been in a fight like you wouldn't believe" said Frank. "Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea" Joe replied. Everybody then noticed that the ship was starting to list over. "Err Doc, what did you do to the ship?" Frank asked.

"Somebody get these bastards off me" yelled the Squad Leader. "Our friend, the Squad Leader, is in trouble, she's got two fighters after her and she's requesting help" said Aris. Tex checked his console, "I see her, what do you say we give her a hand" said Tex as he threw the Banshee into a hard-right turn. "I'd say that it's the least we could do - she did help us out after all" Aris replied. The Iconian fighters closed in on the Squad Leader's craft and fired - the fighter was hit on the wing and began to leak warp plasma. "God damn, it I really need some help here!" the Squad Leader shouted. "Stand by, they're going to pass right in front of us, target locked, firing" said Aris. The Banshee's dorsal phaser bank let loose a streak of phaser fire which found its mark and one of the fighters exploded. Tex heaved the nose of the Banshee up and into a hard-right turn. "I can't get a lock, they're out of range" Aris advised. "Banshee to Squad Leader, we got one of the fighters but the other is out of range" said Tex. "Thanks for the assist Banshee, I'll take care of this bastard myself" the Squad Leader replied. The Iconian fighter fired again but missed at which point the Squad Leader flipped her fighter onto it's back and headed straight for the Iconian fighter. Just a few hundred meters before they would have collided, the squad Leader fired her phasers. The Iconian fighter exploded and the squad leader flew straight threw the explosive cloud. "Banshee to Squad Leader - are you OK?" said Tex with concern. A few seconds later Tex heard her reply. "I'm fine, a little singed but otherwise good." "That was a gutsy move - err, what's your name, it seems strange just calling you Squad Leader?" said Tex. "My name is Kara-Kara Thrace and thanks, I think I can make it back to the Tempest."

"We've got a new problem. That Iconian ship has drifted into the gravity well of that planet, they just crossed into the thermosphere" said Aris. Tex punched new commands into the helm, bringing the Banshee about to head straight for the Iconian ship. On the tumbling Iconian ship, Joe and Rekha were hanging on as best as they could to keep themselves from falling over, when Joe heard Aris's voice on his comm badge. "Cap'n, are you ok over there?" Aris queried. "We've had better days. What's going on" asked Joe. "Your ship has been caught in the gravity well of a nearby planet and is in free fall. We're on our way but we've only got short range transporters" Aris answered. "I've put everything we've got into the engines, but it's going to be close" Tex said worriedly. The hull of the Iconian ship began to glow red as it crossed into the stratosphere with the Banshee right behind it. Beginning to feel the heat, with some concern Joe said, "Anytime now would be good." "Standby, I've got a lock, transporting to the bridge" said Aris triumphantly. Joe, Frank, and the others rematerialized on the bridge. Looking at them, Aris asked "Are you all OK?" "Aris, you have incredible timing" said Joe smiling. Tex pointed the Banshee's nose up to come out of the dive, and they watched as the Iconian ship crashed into one of the planet's oceans. As the ship went in nose first causing huge splash, a huge plume of water shot up into the air as it cart wheeled over and over. The ship eventually stopped moving to float on its back for a minute or two before sinking beneath the waves. "It's a good job that the planet is uninhabited, otherwise a strange alien ship crashing into their ocean would likely get somebody's attention" said Tex. "Well, I'm very glad that's over - that Trent put up one hell of a fight" Joe remarked as they took their places on the bridge. "Oh, if you wanna talk fights Cap, you should have seen the one we were in. Wave after wave of aliens coming at us, I thought we were goners for sure - that is until the Doc came up with the idea to kill the ship" said Frank. "That was you?" said Joe in surprise. "We came across a pathogen in one of the compartments we were in. I got the idea of injecting it into the ship, hopefully killing its organic parts and making it inoperable - and it worked" said Cole. "Good job" said Joe. "The Tempest is hailing us" said Aris interjecting. "On screen" Joe commanded. Admiral T'paar appeared on the screen and said, "Our sensors detected a transporter signal - I hoped you had all got out in time." "We did thank you Admiral, thanks in no small part to some quality flying by Tex here" said Rekha. "Indeed, Captain Kaur. I take it you stopped Trent?" the concerned Admiral queried. "Yes Admiral, with some help from Captain Russell - Trent is dead" Rekha replied. "I see, I expect a full report on my desk by tomorrow. Captain Russell, we see that your ship has taken some damage during the fire fight. I would like to extend to you our repair facilities at space Dock – plus, I would like to hear your version of events" said Admiral T'paar. "Thank you, Admiral, I believe I'll take you up on your offer" Joe answered. "Very well, I'll see you both back at space Dock" said the Admiral. The view screen went back to its view of the planet. "Right, everybody except Tex and Aris report to sick bay, we all have wounds that need treating" Cole said commandingly. There were some minor protests, but everybody including both Captains reported to sick bay for treatment.

"Did you know he could play this?" Cole asked. "The only thing I've seen him play with are his guns" said Chel. "Check and mate" said Frank as he moved his chess piece and checked his opponent, who was not happy that he had just lost. "Where the hell did you learn to play three-dimensional chess?" Cole asked. "Back before I joined up, jobs were few and far in between. We had to amuse ourselves so, out of boredom, I tried playing chess and found out I was good at it. I play every now and then just to keep my skills up" Frank replied. After the Banshee had gotten back to Space Dock the crew had decided to go to Club Forty-Seven to relax. Frank had decided to show off one of his lesser known skills and take on all comers at chess, watched in amazement by Chel and Cole. Tex and Aris had found their own private corner and Joe was sipping his drink while looking out of a window at New Earth below. "It's one of the best views in Space Dock" said a voice. Joe turned to see Rekha standing behind him. "Did you know that we've only managed to colonise about thirty per cent of the planet so far. We've found a waterfall that plunges for five miles and a creature that can climb sheer cliffs with its nose, or at least what we think is its nose" said Rekha airily. "I once saw a dead deformed cow that was being passed off as an unknown alien" said Joe in mock seriousness. "Aww, poor thing" Rekha said in the same tone. "How are you feeling?" Joe said in more of a back-to business tone. "Not too bad actually. Your Doctor is very good, at least on a par with ours, though I do think two week's light duty isn't really necessary" Rekha replied. Another voice joined the conversation. "Ahh, Captain Kaur, Captain Russell, I'm glad I have caught you. I just wanted to say thank you to you both. I've read your reports on what happened, but you are both, shall I say, fuzzy on how you learned of Facility Eighteen's location?" said Admiral T'paar. "Err, that wasn't an oversight Admiral. I asked Captain Kaur not to put any names or locations in her report. The person whom we got the information from values their privacy" said Joe. "I see, in any case we owe you a debt of thanks. You and your crew did not have to help us but you did. Trent, and whatever plan he had for that pathogen, has been thwarted. Plus, you found survivors of the Iconian attack on earth. We thought none had survived. And you put yourselves at risk in doing so. You have my respect and thanks. Now, if you'll excuse me, there are more reports that require my attention. Live long and prosper Captain" said Admiral T'paar departing. When the Admiral had left Joe turned to Rekha and asked, "So what happens to you now?" "The Chimera docked not long after we did. I've been cleared for duty so I'll be taking command of her again. We're due to depart tomorrow afternoon. Starfleet is putting together a relief expedition to go back to Earth and help the survivors, maybe even bring them here if they choose. What about you, what will you do?" Rekha asked. "Go back to doing what we were doing before this all started. Seeing whatever work is out there, not to mention getting familiar with my new ship" said Joe. "Have you been on a Federation starship before?" Rekha enquired. "Aside from the Banshee – no. I didn't even know there were any Federation ships out there" said Joe. "Then why don't you let me give you a tour of my ship" Rekha replied. "You know, I still have that bottle of spring wine we never finished" said Joe. "Hmm, well why don't you go and get it and, after your tour, we'll finish it together" said Rekha smiling and getting close to Joe. "Who am I to refuse a Federation Captain" said Joe smiling warmly.

 **EPILOGUE**

Admiral T'paar walked into her office and was startled to see a man sitting at her desk. "What are you doing here?" asked the Admiral with some irritation. "Waiting for you Admiral. Things didn't go to plan and our Elachi friends are less than happy" the man said breezily. "That couldn't be helped. I didn't know the Ferengi would sell the Gateway. I thought he would have kept it for himself. If he had done so, everything would have gone to plan" the Admiral replied. "But it didn't. Now our plans are ruined, but I will give you credit for telling Trent to make everybody think he was a traitor. It made things much easier - but we still have a dead agent and I have to explain to the Elachi why one of the Captains involved is in line to get a medal. This is on you Admiral. Trent Corwin was your man and he messed up" said the man. "When Kro decided to sell the Gateway instead of keeping it, Trent was forced to improvise. I never expected Captain Kaur to get as far as she did, even with the help of Captain Russell and his crew. But they did find Facility Eighteen - wasn't its location supposed to be top secret?" asked the Admiral. "We've downloaded the Banshee's navigation logs so we'll find out soon enough how they found out" the man replied. "What happens now?" asked the Admiral. "Well, as I said, our Elachi friends are not happy about losing that pathogen. They had planned to use that to attack the Iconians. Who could have guessed that something that was meant for us was going to be used against an enemy by a former enemy" said the man. "I think Admiral Munroe guessed" Admiral T'paar stated. The man shot a look at the Admiral and said "Admiral Munroe was a mistake on our part. We knew he was looking into rumours about us, but we thought rumours were all he had. Obviously, we were wrong. He found out about our alliance with the Elachi and was planning to blow the whistle on us. We didn't know how much evidence he had, but we were compelled to act" said the man. "By killing a Starfleet officer?" Admiral T'paar said disdainfully. "If we had done nothing then every Alpha Quadrant power would have turned their backs on us and probably finished what the Iconians started. This is what Section Thirty-One does, we protect the Federation by any means, and if it's a choice between us or one-self-serving Starfleet officer - then there is no choice. Section Thirty-One has existed for a long time and I will not let one-man ruin that. We protect against all threats, internal as well as external, that was made clear when you joined Admiral" said the man. Admiral T'paar paused and looked at the man finally saying, "What do you want me to do now?" "Nothing, we'll smooth things over with the Elachi. You give Captain Kaur her medal and we'll put this whole sorry mess behind us" the man said with finality. He then got up from behind the desk and walked towards the door. But, just before he left the room, he turned and said, "You're a good agent Admiral, I'll try to make my report as favourable to you as possible." Then he left leaving Admiral T'paar staring at the door he had just walked through. The Admiral then turned to her computer and said "Computer, access black files. Authorisation T'paar 7291 black." A list of names came up on the screen. She selected one and a picture of the man that was just in her office appeared. The Admiral then started to study the file of the man. "Hansen - why does that name sound familiar?" the Admiral queried to herself.


End file.
